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Sun drying is one of the oldest and conventionally practiced methods for preserving food. In most rural communities, where most people do not have access to refrigeration, they rely on solar energy to preserve food. This method, due to its advantages, is also prevalent in modernised communities too.
Through ages, solar energy has been used to preserve many fruits, vegetables, cereals, meat as well as marine products. Dehydrated foods have a higher shelf life, making them available even when they are out of season. This is because microbes that survive in moist conditions and cause food to rot are denied the atmosphere to survive.
History from Egypt and Mesopotamia shows proof that various kinds of foods have been preserved using these methods since the year 4,000 B.C.
Also in the Middle East, pieces of evidence prove that sun drying was used as a method of food preservation as early as 12,000 B.C. The Romans are also said to have a special corner for sun-preserved foods such as dry fruit.
With the advancement of technology and the demand for a sustainable supply of natural food for the growing populations, new techniques have been developed. In western India for instance, a company called ‘Science for Society’ supplies local farmers with specially designed solar conduction dryers to enable them preserve farm produce that do not sell immediately. These solar dryers can retain temperature for up to 75oC, drying produce completely in four hours.
Sun drying is increasingly empowering women in western India. Most women are employed as farmhands to dry crops on large scale for commercial purposes with an average wage of 80 U.S Dollars per month. With this technology, it is estimated that about 40,000 tonnes of food are preserved every year.
Dehydrated products are relatively light, and have low volume making them easy to store as well as transport across distances. Also, most sun-dried foods, such as fruits and fish, turn out with unique flavours much different from that of fresh food.
Sunlight is also said to be a good disinfectant, helping cleanse farm produce that are infested with insects.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its 2011 Solar Energy Perspectives Executive Summary states that “Solar energy offers a clean, climate-friendly, very abundant and inexhaustible energy resource to mankind, relatively well-spread over the globe.’’ With the sun’s renewable energy, most people prefer this method of food preservation as it is economical and easy to complete.
REFERENCE:
Info from the BBC, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.com, www.guyanachronicle.com, www.food.ndtv.com, www.nchfp.uga.edu was used in this story.
