Smart Drying for Sweet Potato: Quality, Safety, and Cost in One Framework
- Beschreibung
Sweet potato is a climate-resilient staple that advances both nutrition and food security: orange-fleshed varieties supply provitamin A (β-carotene) to combat micronutrient deficiency; purple types add anthocyanins and other polyphenols; and the crop provides fiber, potassium, and complex carbohydrates. It grows in marginal soils with modest inputs and short cycles, offering reliable calories during lean seasons. Simple postharvest steps—steaming, cooling (to raise resistant starch), drying into flour, and safe packaging—extend shelf-life and enable affordable, nutrient-dense foods for school meals and local markets. Because it supports smallholders and MSMEs, especially women- and youth-led enterprises, sweet potato diversifies diets and incomes while buffering communities against price and climate shocks.
Research on sweet-potato drying techniques is vital to turn a highly perishable, moisture-rich crop into safe, shelf-stable, and nutritious products for year-round use. Optimizing time–temperature–airflow conditions (and pretreatments such as blanching) can significantly improve β-carotene/anthocyanin retention, texture, color, and glycemic properties while minimizing microbial risks and mycotoxin formation. Comparative studies across low-cost technologies (solar/cabinet/tunnel/belt) are needed to cut specific energy consumption and drying time without sacrificing quality, enabling MSMEs and farmer co-ops to scale economically. Evidence on packaging, final moisture, and water activity targets, as well as storage stability under tropical humidity, closes the loop on product safety and shelf life. In short, better drying science directly raises farmer income, reduces postharvest loss, and delivers affordable, nutrient-dense foods to local markets and public nutrition programs.
This mini‐experiment uses a climatic chamber to quantify how temperature and relative humidity (RH) affect sweet-potato drying rate, safety, and quality. Sliced roots (4.5 mm) from orange/purple cultivars are prepared with/without 2-min steam blanching, then dried at 35 or 45 °C under 20%, 40%, or 60% RH. Trays (≈300 g) are weighed every 15–30 min to build moisture-loss curves; endpoint is 10–12% moisture (wb) and aw ≤ 0.60 after cooling. Color (Lab*, ΔE) is measured pre/post; optional β-carotene/anthocyanin assays estimate retention. Page-model fitting (k, n) compares kinetics across conditions, and two-way ANOVA tests effects of Temp×RH (and pretreatment). Outputs are: drying constants, specific time to safe aw, color change, and recommended chamber settings that balance speed, energy, and nutrient/visual quality.
- Beschreibung des interdisziplinären Teils des Projekts
- In this project, the disciplines of agricultural science, agricultural engineering, food technology, nutritional science, food material science, and food chemistry are combined
- Projektzeitraum
- Wintersemester 2025/2026
- Bewerbungszeitraum
- 13. bis 27.10.2025
- Durchführung
- semesterbegleitend
- Details zu Projektzeitraum und Durchführung
The project can be carried out during the semester or during the lecture-free period by arrangement.
Depending on the number of participants, individual topics can be worked on separately and then combined in teamwork.
The details of the experiment can be discussed further to focus on the interests of the Humboldt Reloaded Project participants
- Studienfach
- offen für alle Studienfächer
- Betreuende
- Fetriyuna Fetriyuna
- Institut
- Institut für Agrartechnik (440) (Food Engineering, Food Science and Technology, Food Science and Nutrition)
- Sprache
- englisch
- Teilnehmendenanzahl
- min. 1, max. 2
- Arbeitsaufwand
-
ca. 180 Stunden pro Teilnehmende:r
| 6
ECTS-Punkte
Arbeitsaufwand (Stunden und ggf. ECTS) sind ungefähre Angaben. Die tatsächlich vergebenen ECTS-Punkte ergeben sich aus der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeit.
- Für dieses Projekt ist kein Motivationsschreiben des Studierenden erforderlich
- Projektart
- experimentell
- Lernziele
-
Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:
Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:
Students will learn methods for investigating the most effective drying conditions for sweet potato. They will collect data on nutrient retention and the physical properties of dried sweet potato. Students will analyze a cost-effective drying technology suitable for commercial use and small-scale production. They will learn how to analyze the results of their experiments, calculate, make a report, and presentation of their own work (oral and poster)
- Anmerkungen für Studierende
The scope of work can be adjusted before the project starts, according to the number of participants and depending on preferences and time budget
- Schlagworte
- sweet potato, Drying, cabinet dryer, nutrient retention (β-carotene; anthocyanins), food security, affordable technology, Small medium enterprises