Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427

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Industrial Crops and Products

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Product quality and energy consumption when drying peppermint by

rotary drum dryer
Sefa Tarhan a,∗ , İsa Telci b , M. Taner Tuncay c , Hakan Polatci d
a
Gaziosmanpaşa University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Tokat, Turkey
b
Gaziosmanpaşa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Tokat, Turkey
c
Gaziosmanpaşa University, Technical Science College of Tokat, Tokat, Turkey
d
Gaziosmanpaşa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Machinery, Tokat, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Peppermint is one of the most important aromatic plants because it has wide range of industrial uses and
Received 3 December 2009 is widely accepted by the public for its flavoring and pharmaceutical properties. Hot air or natural drying
Received in revised form 29 May 2010 of medicinal and aromatic plants, including peppermint, is a common postharvest operation. Drying the
Accepted 4 June 2010
product reduces biochemical and microbiological degradation. However, many studies in the literature
report the results of drying only a small amount of plant material (less than 1 kg) and do not consider the
performances of industrial scale dryers in terms of their effect on product quality, energy consumption
Keywords:
and throughput. A rotary drum dryer was used to dry 15 kg of fresh chopped peppermint plant. The rotary
Peppermint
Rotary drum dryer drum dryer was programmed to operate under two different drying schemes: constant air temperature
Drying kinetics drying and rectangular wave-shaped drying air temperature profiles. The drying durations were 15–18 h
Essential oil and 12–15 h for constant temperature profile and rectangular wave-shaped temperature profiles, respec-
Color change tively. Hot air drying caused considerable darkening of the dried peppermint leaves. Essential oil contents
Aromatic plants of peppermint samples dried by the two different drying procedures were relatively unaffected by dry-
ing scheme (2.08–2.7 mL 100 g dry matter−1 ). The menthol content of the leaves increased from 32.52%
(fresh) up to 44.52% (dried), their menthone content decreased from 24.85% (fresh) down to 9.07% (dried).
However, the variations within replications were relatively high in terms of the menthol (25.39–44.52%)
and menthone (9.07–18.49%) contents of the dried leaves. These variations might have been caused by
the uncontrolled morphological and physiological changes of the fresh peppermint materials associated
with their maturity. These variations are the main obstacle to obtaining reproducible results and there-
fore dried peppermint products with consistent quality. The specific energy consumption values ranged
from 7.88 to 15.08 MJ (kg water removed)−1 . Daily fluctuations in ambient air conditions directly affected
the specific energy consumption of rotary drum dryer.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction anti-pruritic, astringent, rubefacient and antiseptic purposes (Iscan

Mint species produce two classes of secondary metabolites:
monoterpenoids and different structural types of phenolic com-
pounds which act as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds,
anti-spasmodics, anti-emetics, diaphoretics, analgesics, stimu-
lants, emmenagoues, anti-catharrhals, anti-microbials, carmina-
tives, and anti-viral agents (Iscan et al., 2002; Mimica-Dukic and
Bozin, 2008). The dried mint plants and/or their essential oils
have been used in traditional and conventional medicine to cure
nausea, bronchitis, flatulence, anorexia, ulcerative colitis, liver
complaints, neuralgia, myalgia, headaches and migraines. In addi-
tion, mint essential oils are applied externally on human skin for
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 544 2061371; fax: +90 356 2521488.
E-mail address: sefatarhan@hotmail.com (S. Tarhan).
et al., 2002; Mimica-Dukic and Bozin, 2008). The pharmacological
activity strongly depends on the specific chemical composition of
the oil, which is highly variable (Mimica-Dukic and Bozin, 2008;
Telci et al., 2004).
Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) is a natural hybrid of water mint
(Mentha aquatica L.) and spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) and is cul-
tivated globally for its use as a flavoring in foods and also in some
shampoos and soaps. Peppermint oil contains varying amounts of
menthol (28–42%) and menthone (18–28%). The menthol has been
shown to have antimicrobial activity (Iscan et al., 2002).
Mint plants typically contain 75–85% wet basis (wb) moisture
content at harvest and are normally harvested when in full bloom
(Diaz-Maroto et al., 2003; Doymaz, 2006; Rohloff et al., 2005). Pep-
permint oil yield increased from early to full bloom and the flavor
compounds, menthol and menthone, reached their optimum at
full bloom (43–54 and 12–30%, respectively). Drying peppermint

0926-6690/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2010.06.003
 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427 421

is an effective and widely used method to increase the shelf life of

the final product by slowing microbial growth and biodegradation.
Prewilting (ground drying) showed a slight decrease in essential oil
(EO) levels after 1 day (7.7%) and 5 days of ground drying (1.5%) and
no EO quality changes compared to direct drying at 30 ◦ C (Rohloff
et al., 2005). One practical approach to ensure optimized yield/EO
quality and to simultaneously reduce drying cost is direct distilla-
tion immediately after harvesting. However, when fresh processing
is not practicable, drying becomes necessary.
There are several studies reporting the drying kinetics of mint
leaves and/or the effectiveness of different drying methods in
which small sample amounts (less than 1 kg) were used (Akpinar
Kavak, 2006; Asekun et al., 2007; Diaz-Maroto et al., 2003; Doymaz,
2006; Kaya and Aydin, 2009; Ozbek and Dadali, 2007; Park et al.,
2002; Therdthai and Zhou, 2009), however cultivation practices
used prior to drying were not reported. Mint plants are perenni-
als and can tolerate multiple cuttings per year. The effect of cutting
order (the first cutting, the second cutting, sometimes the third
cutting) in a growing season on the essential oil yield and/or compo- Fig. 1. Rotary drum dryer.
sition of aromatic plants has been reported (Telci and Sahbaz, 2005;
Zehtab-Salmasi et al., 2008) but the effect of cutting order on drying
ber wheel was powered by an electrical motor to rotate the drum
characteristics of whole plants including mint species has not been
counterclockwise at 8.12 Rev/h speed.
previously reported. The objective of this study was to determine
Fresh air was delivered by a fan to the electrical resistant heater.
the product quality, energy consumption and drying time for pep-
The air was heated to the desired temperature was then forced
permint when dried in a novel rotary drum dryer under rectangular
through the bottom of the drum via a connection pipe (25-cm diam-
wave-shaped and constant drying air temperature profiles.
eter), with the air distribution unit enclosing 1/3 part of the drum.
The material to be dried was placed into the drum by hand. The
2. Materials and methods rotational speed of the fan and the rotational speed of the drum
could be separately adjusted by electronic speed variator. The fan
2.1. Drying material speed was adjusted to supply air at an average volumetric flowrate
of 515 m3 h−1 . Volumetric flowrate of the heated air was measured
Cuttings from rhizomes of Mentha piperita L. were planted by a hot-wire anemometer (Testo 425, Germany) in placed in the
in 40 cm rows (30 cm within rows) in experimental fields at connector pipe. Temperature of the heated air was controlled using
Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat (Turkey) on November 01, 2007. a Pt100 temperature sensor and an electronic controller (Elimko
Fertilizer was applied after planting at the rate of 50 kg ha−1 nitro- 210, Turkey) which adjusted the electrical energy supplied to the
gen, and 50 kg ha−1 P2 O5 . Plots were watered with drip irrigation heater to maintain the desired air temperature.
system and kept weed free by hand hoeing. The peppermint plants
on the same field were harvested twice (first cutting and second 2.3. Drying experiments
cutting). The first cutting (harvest date: July 16, 2008) and the
second cutting (harvest date: September 24, 2008) of peppermint Fifteen kilograms of newly harvested and chopped fresh pepper-
plants were used for the first and second replications, respectively, mint plant (Mentha piperita L.) pieces were loaded into the rotary
of drying for the constant air temperature drying treatment, how- drum dryer. One of two drying air temperature profiles (rectangular
ever only the second cutting (harvest dates: September 13 and 23, wave-shaped or constant temperature profile) was selected from
2008) of peppermint plants were used for both replications for the the control panel. When the rotation of the drum was temporar-
rectangular wave air temperature profile treatment. The cutting ily stopped at 3-h time intervals, a sample of the mixed material
order and drying replications were randomly assigned to drying
treatment. The newly harvested plant materials were chopped by
a lever shear to 5 cm long pieces to accelerate drying and han-
dling. The moisture content of newly harvested plant material was
determined by oven drying at 105 ◦ C for 24 h.

2.2. Rotary drum dryer

A rotary drum dryer was designed and built specifically for this
research study (Fig. 1). The main components of the rotary drum
dryer are an electrical heating/fan unit, a rotary drum horizontally
placed on four rubber wheels, a control panel, and an air chan-
nel/distribution room unit. This rotary drum dryer has a cylindrical
drum, 95 cm in outer diameter and 130 cm in length. The drum was
constructed of a 1-mm thick perforated chrome–nickel sheet with
2-mm diameter holes (112 holes per 10 cm2 ). Four 30-cm wide
baffles (inner wings) were attached lengthwise inside this drum
evenly distributed around the drum to mix the drying materials
uniformly (Fig. 2). The drum was placed on four rubber wheels
and its bottom faced to the air distribution room. One of the rub- Fig. 2. Inner wings of drum and pipe for temperature/RH sensor.
422 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427
was taken with sufficient material to separate the sample into so
that two 30-g samples of leaves and two 30-g samples of stems
which were used to determine moisture contents. When the dried
sample moisture content reached approximately 9–11% wb, the
moisture content recommended for safe storage, the drying pro-
cess was stopped. After the leaves became too fragile to handle,
two extra 30-g samples of leaves were taken and microwaved until
their weight did not decrease more than 0.3 g every minute. The
method of using a microwave to determine moisture content was
termed “rapid moisture determination” and was used to complete
the drying trials. Rapid moisture determination gave as approxi-
mate results but were not intended to replicate the exact results.
The exact results were obtained by oven drying and reweighing the
sample after being in the oven for 24 h at 105 ◦ C.
The total electrical energy consumption for the drying process
was measured using a Network analyzer (Entes MPR63, Turkey).
The dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of ambient air,
heated air, the air passing through the center of the drum and
the outgoing air were measured by sensors (HOBO S-THB-M008,
ONSET, USA) every 2.5 min and stored in the data logger (HOBO
H21-002, ONSET, USA).
2.4. Data processing and mathematical modeling
Soysal and Oztekin (2001) reported both the specific heat
energy consumption and the specific electrical energy consump-
tion, because they used an LPG burner to heat air for their dryer. In
this study, both types of energy consumptions were combined and
renamed the specific energy consumption. Furthermore, the spe-
cific energy consumption was calculated by making two separate
assumptions. The first approach assumed the air temperature did
not rise in the drying air after heating. It was calculated as follows:
TEC
SEC1 = 3.6 ·
MWR
where SEC1 is the specific energy consumption without considering
temperature rise (MJ kg water−1 ); TEC: total energy consumption
(kWh); MWR: mass of water removed from the drying material
(kg).
The second approach considered the temperature rise in the
heated air, calculated as follows:
TEC
SEC2 = 3.6 ·
MWR · (Tha − Taa )
where SEC2 is the specific energy consumption to produce tem-
perature rise in drying air (MJ kg water−1 ◦ C−1 ); Tha , the average
temperature of heated air (◦ C); Taa , the average temperature of
ambient air (◦ C).
The second approach eliminates the impact of the ambient air
temperature differences when the drying trials were conducted.
The drying kinetics relate the moisture ratio to the drying time:
M − Me
MR =
M0 − Me
where M is the moisture content of drying material at any sampling
time (% db); Me the equilibrium moisture content of drying material
based on drying conditions (% db); M0 is the initial moisture content
of drying material (% db).
The values of the equilibrium moisture content, Me , are rela-
tively small compared to M and M0 . Thus, the moisture ratio can be
calculated as follows (Akpinar Kavak, 2006):
M
MR =
M0
Many empirical equations are given in the literature to describe
thin layer drying kinetics of agricultural and food materials. Thin
layer drying assumes homogonous drying. Therefore, the pepper-
mint drying in the rotary drum dryer was assumed to be equivalent
to thin layer drying because of mixing. Page’s equation is the most
convenient mathematical model of thin layer drying kinetics and
has been widely used in thin layer drying studies (Muller, 2007):
MR = exp(−k · t n ) (5)
where k and n are model parameters whose values are estimated
from the experimental data. The calibration of model parameters
and the estimation of model variance were both performed using
SigmaPlot® software.
2.5. Color analysis
The colors of both fresh and dehydrated peppermint plants were
quantified by using a Minolta (CR-400) chromameter (Japan). Five
color measurements were taken for each treatment, resulting in
numeric values for three chromatic scales (L*, a*, b*). L* is the bright-
ness ranging from no reflection for black (L* = 0) to perfect diffuse
reflection for white (L* = 100). The value “a*” is the redness ranging
from negative values for green to positive values for red. The value
“b*” is the yellowness ranging from negative values for blue and
positive values for yellow. The color at the grid origin (a* = 0 and
b* = 0) is achromatic (gray) (McGuire, 1992). A special white plate
was used to calibrate the chromameter.
2.6. Essential oil isolation
Essential oil was isolated using a Clevenger hydro-distillation
apparatus. Ten grams of dried leaves were soaked in 100 mL
distilled water (1:10). Distillation required approximately 4 h to
complete when heated to the boiling point of water using hot plates.
The oil phase was separated and dried over anhydrous sodium sul-
(1)
fate then stored in a dark glass bottle at 4 ◦ C for analysis (Telci et
al., 2006). Samples were prepared from both fresh and dried leaves
for two replications of the two temperature profiles.
2.7. GC-FID analysis
GC analysis of the essential oil was performed by Perkin-Elmer®
Clarus 500 model Autosystem GC with built-in autosampler. Oil
(2) was diluted in acetone (1:10) and injected into the BPX5 col-
umn (30 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 ␮m film) for separation. The carrier
gas was helium at 5 psi inlet pressure. Injector and detector (FID)
temperatures were 230 ◦ C and 250 ◦ C, respectively. The column
temperate was programmed from 60 to 230 ◦ C at 3 ◦ C/min with
initial and final temperature held for 3 min and 15 min, respec-
tively. Diluted samples of 1.0 ␮L were injected in the split/splitless
(5:1 split) mode. Quantitative data were obtained electroni-
cally from FID area percent data without the use of correction
factors.
(3)
2.8. GC–MS analysis
GC/MS analyses were obtained on Perkin-Elmer® mass spec-
trometer with built-in autosampler using a BPX5 column
(30 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 ␮m film). For GC/MS detection, an electron
ionization system (ionization energy of 70 eV) was used. Helium
was the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.3 mL/min. The oven temper-
ature programming was the same with GC-FID analysis. Injector
and MS transfer line temperatures were set at 230 ◦ C and 250 ◦ C,
(4) respectively. Diluted samples (1/10 in acetone, v/v) of 1.0 ␮L were
injected in the split/splitless (5:1 split) mode. Compounds were
named based on comparison of their retention times with those
of a standard, and by comparison of their mass spectral library and
 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427 423

Fig. 3. Air temperature values recorded during the first replication of drying at
Fig. 5. Air temperature values recorded during the second replication of drying at
constant air temperature profile.
constant drying temperature profile.

commercial libraries (WILLEY and NIST database/ChemStation data

system).

2.9. Statistical analysis

One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed block-

ing on replication because uncontrolled variables differed between
replication. Duncan’s New Multiple-range test was performed for
comparison of mean values. The effects of drying conditions on L*,
a*, b*, essential oil content, menthol percentage, menthone per-
centage, moisture content of fresh materials (leaves and stems) and
moisture content of dried materials (leaves and stems) were sta-
tistically analyzed. However, specific energy consumption values
could not be analyzed because there was only one value for each
replication of temperature profile. On the other hand, there were
Fig. 6. Air relative humidity values recorded during the second replication of drying
five L*, a* and b* values for each replication of temperature profile.
at constant air temperature profile.
There were two values of the other dependent variables (essen-
tial oil content, menthol, mentone and moisture content) for each
replication of temperature profile.

3. Results and discussion

Temperature and relative humidity for ambient and heated air

at three different points within the dryer using the constant air tem-
perature profile are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively (rep 1) and
Figs. 5 and 6 (rep 2). The temperature and relative humidity pro-
files for the rectangular wave-shaped air temperature treatment
are given in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively (rep 1) and Figs. 9 and 10
(rep 2). T1, T2, T3 and T4 legends shown in Figs. 3, 5, 7 and 9 stand
for the temperature values of ambient air, heated air just after the
heater, the air passing through the center of drum, and the air exit- Fig. 7. Air temperature values recorded during the first replication of drying at
ing through the far end of the drum, respectively. RH1, RH2, RH3 rectangular wave-shaped air temperature profile.

Fig. 4. Air relative humidity values recorded during the first replication of drying at Fig. 8. Air relative humidity values recorded during the first replication of drying at
constant air temperature profile. rectangular wave-shaped air temperature profile.
424 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427
Fig. 9. Air temperature values recorded during the second replication of drying at
rectangular wave-shaped air temperature profile.
and RH4 legends given in Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10 stand for the relative
humidity values of ambient air, heated air just after the heater, the
air passing through the center of drum, and the air exiting through
the far end of the drum, respectively.
The average ambient air temperatures at drying were 26.41 and
20.08 ◦ C for the first and second replications respectively for the
constant air temperature drying treatment. The average tempera-
ture values of the heated air were very close as expected for both
replications (36.65 and 36.42 ◦ C for the first and second replica-
tions, respectively). The temperature of the air passing through the
centre of the drum dryer started lower and increased to a stable
value. The initial lower temperature of the air passing through the
center of the drum dryer was possibly due to the heat required
to evaporate water from the peppermint materials (Figs. 4 and 6).
The fluctuations associated with the relative humidity values of
ambient air were larger since the control system only adjusted the
temperature of heated air. The temperature values of the air leaving
the dryer were higher than those of ambient air while the rela-
tive humidity values of the exiting air were much lower that for
ambient air. These results show that the recycling of air leaving the
dryer to replace a portion of the ambient air would save energy,
although not at the beginning of drying where moisture loss from
the materials was high. Another approach to save energy might be
to gradually reduce the flow rate towards the end of drying process.
Both approaches need further experimental investigation.
The average ambient air temperature was 25.77 and 18.73 ◦ C for
the first and second replications respectively for the rectangular
wave air temperature profile treatment. In the first replication, the
temperature of heated air stayed at ∼37 ◦ C in 45 min and jumped
Fig. 10. Air relative humidity values recorded during the second replication of dry-
ing at rectangular wave-shaped air temperature profile.
Table 1
The moisture content (% wb) of fresh and dried peppermint leaves and stems# .
Drying air temperature profile Fresh Dried
Leaves Stems Leaves Stems
Constant
R1 76.41a 78.84b 14.391 58.163
R2 81.17c 84.66d 12.141 30.852
Rectangular wave-shaped
R1 79.84b,c 86.75e 10.511 48.323
R2 81.12c 84.85d 10.861 33.082
#
Mean moisture contents of fresh materials with different superscripts (a, b, c and
d) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05. Mean moisture contents of dried materials
with different superscripts (1, 2 and 3) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05.
to ∼58 ◦ C and stayed there in 15 min in a cyclic fashion. In the sec-
ond replication, the temperature of heated air stayed at ∼36 ◦ C
in 45 min and jumped to ∼52 ◦ C and stayed there in 15 min in a
cyclical fashion. The factor causing the difference (∼6 ◦ C) in the
high temperature values between the two replications was unde-
termined. Possibly the electrical heater was insufficiently sized to
produce sufficient heat to raise the temperature of the air starting
at the lower ambient air temperature in the second replication, or
possibly there was some other technical limitation.
The temperature of the air passing through the center of the
rotary drum dryer or exiting the rotary drum dryer had the rect-
angular wave-shaped profile but was lower in magnitude than of
the heated air leaving the heater. The hypothesis behind using the
rectangular wave-shaped profile was that it would accelerate the
drying without causing essential oil loss. However, finding opti-
mum temperature and time duration of the cycle will require more
investigation.
The initial and final moisture content of peppermint samples
are given in Table 1. Moisture contents of fresh peppermint leaves
were slightly lower than that of peppermint stems (p < 0.05). Small
variations between the results obtained by the two methods of
moisture content determination are shown in Table 1. The dif-
ferences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The moisture
contents of dried peppermint stems changed from 30.85 to 58.16%
(p < 0.05). The leaves lost moisture faster than the stems, which
supports the claim that the parts of peppermint have different
drying characteristics and the drying process must be completed
when the leaves reach the final moisture without waiting for the
drying of stems. The drying curves of leaves and stems are given
in Figs. 11 and 12, respectively. The first replication of drying at
constant air temperature profile (CT 1) required a longer drying
time than the second replication at the same temperature profile
(CT 2). The first-cut peppermint plants had much bigger leaves and
Fig. 11. The drying curves of peppermint leaves under different drying air temper-
ature profiles (error bar of each sampling point equals to ± its standard deviation).
 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427
Fig. 12. The drying curves of peppermint stems under different drying air temper-
ature profiles (error bar of each sampling point equals to ± its standard deviation).
thicker stems than the second-cut ones since the density of pep-
permint plants per m2 increased between the first cutting and the
second due to self-propagation on the ground, decreasing the size of
each plant. The increase of plant density possibly reduced the sun-
light and nutrients per plant and limited the growth of leaves and
stems. These morphological changes altered the drying characteris-
tics. The mass of the leaves and stems was not measured however.
Only second-cut peppermint samples were used for the first and
second replications of drying at rectangular wave-shaped air tem-
perature profile. The two replications have much closer drying
curves compared to the two replications for the constant temper-
ature treatment. These results indicate that the growing practices
must be reported in addition to the drying kinetics of any medicinal
and aromatic plant studies. In addition, the parameters of drying
kinetics are only valid for the leaf fraction of the plant and may
not be adequate to design dryers for whole plants. The completion
of drying using the constant temperature profile required 18 and
15 h for the first and second replications, respectively while the
completion of a drying process at rectangular wave-shaped tem-
perature required 12 and 15 h for the first and second replications,
respectively. The cyclical drying temperature in the wave-shape
temperature treatment accelerated drying. Another experimental
approach to assess the effect of any temperature profile would be
to use a fixed drying time such as 15 h and to analyze the final
moisture contents of the material at the final time. In this alterna-
Table 2
Parameter values and model goodness of Page’s equation for peppermint leaves.
Drying air temperature profile Parameter values
k n
Constant
Rep I 0.066
Rep II 0.236
Average 0.151
Rectangular wave-shaped
Rep I 1.156
Rep II 0.095
Average 0.626
Table 3
Specific energy consumption valuesa .
Drying air temperature profile SEC1 (MJ kg−1 water)
Rep. I
Constant 8.784
Rectangular wave-shaped 7.884
a
Duncan test was not performed because of uncontrolled climatic variations.
425
tive approach (using a fixed drying time), the samples might not
reach the desired moisture content (9–11% wb) which affects the
dried products’ quality. Doymaz (2006) dried mint leaves in 10 h at
35 ◦ C and less than 5 h at 45 ◦ C. These drying times are shorter than
the ones obtained in this current study. Drying leaves and stems
together may slow down the moisture loss from leaves since heat
is also used for stems. Therefore, industrial drying of plant materi-
als needs rapid and reliable moisture content tests to be developed
because variations in plant materials and drying systems require
different drying times.
Page’s equation was able to represent the experimental data
from peppermint leaves very well as shown in Table 2. The model
parameters for the drying stems were not included since they have
no economic value. The model parameter values changed with the
replications and temperature profiles. The average values of each
parameter are also given in Table 2 for the general description of
the drying kinetics of peppermint plants in the rotary drum dryer.
Model goodness of fit values (R2 , RMSE and MBE) confirmed that
there were no biases or inaccuracy in predictions since the values
of R2 were very close to 1 (perfect fit) while the values of RMSE and
MBE were very close to zero (no deviation). Therefore, Page’s equa-
tion was determined to be an easy-to-use model for representing
the drying of peppermint leaves.
The specific energy consumption values without and with
considering a temperature rise in the heated air are given in
Table 3. The specific energy consumption values without con-
sidering a temperature rise in the heated air varied within
replications more than between temperature profiles. These
deviations (8.78–11.77 MJ kg water−1 ) for constant temperature
and (7.88–15.08 MJ kg water−1 ) for rectangular wave-shaped tem-
perature profile within replications were mostly caused by
differences associated with different ambient air conditions dur-
ing the drying trials. Considering the temperature rise in the
heated air reversed the order of the specific energy consump-
tion (0.86–0.72 MJ kg water−1 ◦ C−1 ) within the replications for the
constant temperature drying treatment while it reduced the dif-
ference (0.47–0.72 MJ kg water−1 ◦ C−1 ) within the replications of
drying with the rectangular wave-shaped temperature profile. The
reason for that difference (0.47–0.72 MJ kg water−1 ◦ C−1 ) is likely
due to the higher relative humidities (59.6–73.5%) of ambient air in
the second replication than those (36.6–51.6%) in the first repli-
cation. The variation in relative humidity values of ambient air
must also be considered to truly compare the performances of
Model goodness values
R2 RMSE MBE
1.265 0.991 0.0284 0.005
1.080 0.998 0.0140 −0.006
1.173
1.521 0.997 0.0209 −0.014
1.405 0.995 0.0274 0.003
1.463
SEC2 (MJ kg−1 water ◦ C−1 )
Rep. II Rep. I Rep. II
11.772 0.864 0.72
15.084 0.468 0.72
426 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427

Table 4
Measured color values of fresh and dry peppermint leaves# .

Temperature profile Leaves status Color values‡

L* a* b*

R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2

Constant Fresh 39.67 a

36.68 b
−11.27 3
−6.642
19.58 w
19.97w
Dried 24.70c 24.56c −0.591 0.111 11.10z 12.76y,z

Rectangular wave-Shaped Fresh 34.86b 37.07a,b −6.482 −6.952 17.50x 19.93w

Dried 23.64c 25.58c 0.351 0.821 14.17y 13.49y
#
Replications of drying trials were considered as independent variable because of uncontrolled variations of plant properties. ‡ Mean L* values with different superscripts
(a, b and c) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05. Mean a* values with different superscripts (1, 2 and 3) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05. Mean b* values with different
superscripts (w, x, y and z) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05.

the dryers which use hot air to remove moisture. The average
rise of adiabatic drying potential after heating can be used as an
alternative approach instead of the temperature rise in the heated
air. The increase of drying air temperature in a cyclical fashion
seems to slightly decrease the specific energy consumptions even
though more energy is needed to raise the temperature higher.
However, shortening the drying time by using higher temperatures
reduced specific energy consumption. In a similar study, Martinov
et al. found that specific energy consumption per kg of dry sage
increased from 13 MJ kg dry sage−1 at a drying temperature of 30 ◦ C
to 42 MJ kg dry sage−1 at 40 ◦ C (Martinov et al., 2007). However,
SEC decreased to ∼22 MJ kg dry sage−1 at a drying temperature
of 50 ◦ C since drying time was reduced. The specific energy con-
sumption of a batch dryer for peppermint drying ranged from 9.1
to 14 MJ kg water−1 even though the drying air was reused when
its relative humidity was lower than a set value (Martinov et al.,
2006). The specific energy consumption decreased from 14.0 to
9.7 MJ kg water−1 when the pile height of fresh material in the dryer
increased from 40 cm to 60 cm. However, increasing pile height
caused heterogeneous drying process and increased essential oil
losses at the lower levels of the pile since they were overdried
(below 9%). Inverting the pile was recommended when the mois-
ture content of the material at the bottom of pile fell down to
25–30%.
The color values (a*, b* and L*) of fresh and dried peppermint
plants are given in Table 4. The brightness values (L*) of fresh
leaves ranged from 34.86 to 39.67 while the greenness/redness val-
ues (a*) ranged −6.48 to −11.27. The yellowness/blueness values
of fresh peppermint leaves were more stable between replica-
tions. The drying process caused considerable changes in color. The
brightness values fell to 23.67 while the greenness/redness (a*)
values rose to 0.82. The yellowness/blueness values fell to 11.10.
These results show that drying with hot air caused darkening in
the color. However, both drying air temperature profiles caused
almost the same darkening in extent. Therefore, relatively long dry-
ing times are believed to be the main factor in color changes to
the leaves, together with mechanical damages caused by chopping
and mixing. Previous studies also reported that hot air drying of
aromatic and medicinal plants did not conserve original color val-
ues and caused considerable darkening (Alibas, 2007; Arslan and
Ozcan, 2008; Martinov et al., 2007; Therdthai and Zhou, 2009).
Microwave drying of these plants preserved their original colors
(Alibas, 2007; Arslan and Ozcan, 2008; Therdthai and Zhou, 2009).
These results also show the importance of the drying time since
microwave drying normally take minutes instead of hours. On the
other hand, microwave drying caused considerable essential oil
losses (Jaganmohan et al., 1998) possibly because rapid changes
to high temperatures modified the structure of leaves (Therdthai
and Zhou, 2009). The color change of peppermint leaves by hot air
drying seems to be the main challenge which future drying research
projects should confront. The duration of high temperature drying
and/or the value of high temperature can be increased to shorten
the drying time. Drying whole plants and intermittent mixing may
reduce color change by minimizing mechanical damage.
The essential oil content and the percentage of two major essen-
tial oil components (menthol and menthone) of dried leaves are
shown in Table 5. The essential oil content of fresh peppermint
ranged from 2.71 to 3.03 mL 100 g dry matter−1 depending on the
age of the peppermint plants. The menthol percentage of fresh
peppermint ranged from 31.02 to 34.02% (average value: 32.52%)
while the menthone percentage of fresh peppermint ranged from
23.23 to 26.47% (average value: 24.85%). It has been previously
reported that related structures such as menthol, neomenthol and
methyl acetate showed increased levels from early to late bloom,
whereas the ketone levels (menthone and isomenthone) decreased
from early to full bloom (Rohloff et al., 2005). Drying caused a
slight reduction in the essential oil content of peppermint but no
major trend change in essential oil was found with respect to the
drying air temperature profiles. The variations in essential oil con-
tent were possibly caused by the variations associated with the
age of fresh peppermint plants at harvest. The increase of drying
temperature above 50 ◦ C in the rectangular wave-shaped temper-
ature profile did not cause a significant reduction in essential oil
content. However Rohloff et al. (2005) reported that the essential
oil content of peppermint decreased from 2.54–2.64 mL 100 g dry
matter−1 to 1.34–1.70 mL 100 g dry matter−1 when the tempera-
ture of drying air increased from 30 to 50 ◦ C. The previous and
current results show that using cyclic temperature profiles such
as the rectangular wave-shaped profile seems effective to preserve
essential oil content. Variations of menthol and menthone concen-
trations in the replications were higher than the variations seen
in the temperature profiles. Again, the variations associated with

Table 5
Amount and major components of dried peppermint essential oil‡ .

Sample status Essential oil content (mL 100 g dry matter−1 ) Menthol (%) Mentone (%)

R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2

Fresh 2.71b,c 3.0c 31.022 34.022 23.23y,z 26.47z

Dried (constant) 2.08a 2.47a,b 25.391 44.524 14.85x 9.06w
Dried (rectangular wave-shaped) 2.70b,c 2.11a 38.773 38.883 17.48x 18.49x,y
‡
Mean essential oil contents values with different superscripts (a, b and c) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05. Mean menthol values with different superscripts (1, 2, 3 and
4) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05. Mean mentone values with different superscripts (w, x, y and z) are statistically different at ˛ = 0.05.
 S. Tarhan et al. / Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 420–427
the age of peppermint leaves directly affected the composition of
dried peppermint essential oils more than the drying temperature
profiles did. Overall, drying increased the percentage of menthol
content while decreasing the percentage of menthone. The men-
thol percentage of dried peppermint increased up to 44.52% while
the menthone percentage of dried peppermint decreased down to
9.07%. It has already been reported that hot air drying of pepper-
mint at 60 ◦ C increased the percentage of menthol and neomenthol
(Blanco et al., 2002; Pliestic et al., 2007). Pulegone, a major essential
oil constituent of Mentha longifolia L. subps. capensis, was not mea-
surable after oven drying at 45 ◦ C while the fresh material had 35%
pulegone (Asekun et al., 2007). These results stress that the opti-
mum value of drying air temperature must be selected to tailor the
essential oil composition of aromatic plants including peppermint.
4. Conclusions
Chopped peppermint plants (Mentha piperita L.) including
leaves and stems were dried in a rotary drum dryer (a prototype
dryer with the capacity of 15 kg fresh material) to preserve prod-
uct quality and conserve energy. The rotary drum dryer removed
moisture from the drying materials using heated air at a constant
temperature profile (∼36 ◦ C) or a rectangular wave-shaped tem-
perature profile (∼36–37 ◦ C in 45 min and ∼52–58 ◦ C in 15 min in a
cyclic fashion). The material was dried until the moisture content in
the leaves reached to 9–11% as determined by the rapid microwave
oven method. The leaves and stems of peppermint plants had dif-
ferent drying curves, with leaves drying faster than the stems. The
first cutting from the peppermint plants dried more slowly than
the second cutting of peppermint plants since the leaves and stems
of the first-cut samples contained more biomass. The cutting order
of harvested peppermint plants affected their quality parameters
such as color, essential oil content and essential oil composition.
The rectangular wave-shaped air temperature profile was more
effective in drying peppermint than the relatively low and constant
air temperature. Variations in ambient air conditions drastically
changed the specific energy consumption of dryer. Specific energy
consumption values ranged 0.468–0.864 MJ kg−1 water ◦ C−1 . Hot
air drying of peppermint plants in the rotary drum dryer caused
considerable change in color but conserved the main essential oil
content. In addition, forced hot air drying favored menthol con-
tent of dried peppermint leaves. Natural variation between the
properties of peppermint plants and climatic conditions during
drying was the major obstacle to obtaining reproducible results
for product quality, energy consumption and required drying
time.
Acknowledgment
This study was done as a part of the research project (Project
Number: 107-O-101) financially supported by The Scientific and
Technological Research Council of Turkey.
427
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