Impact of different drying methods on nutritional quality of Garcinia cowa and Garcinia pedunculata fruits

Aim: The present study was undertaken to establish a suitable drying process for Garcinia cowa and Garcinia pedunculata fruits for maximum retention of their nutritional qualities. Methodology: Slices of three different thickness with 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 cm of G. cowa and G. pedunculata fruits were dried by sun drying, solar drying and by cabinet drying at three different temperatures (50°C, 70°C and 90°C). Results: The mean crude fat and ash content were higher in G. cowa than G. pedunculata while later was found rich in crude protein and Fe contents. Total phenol content ranged between 881.31-888.65 and 719.00-736.74 mg gallic acid equivalent 100 g-1, total flavonoid content between 89.21-90.06 and 51.00-52.54 mg quercetin equivalent 100 g-1 and mean HCA contents ranged between 3.13-3.92% and 1.84-1.99% for G. cowa and G. pedunculata, respectively. The methanolic extracts exhibited significant antioxidant activity. With lower IC50 values, G. cowa had higher antioxidant activity than G. pedunculata. Interpretation: Oven drying at 50°C and 0.9 cm slice thickness for drying resulted in better retention of total phenolic and flavonoid contents with better antioxidant activities.