Influence of drying temperature and air velocity related to essential oil and linalol contents of the basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)

This work aimed to study the influence of four thin layer drying temperatures (40, 50, 60 and 70 degrees C) and two air velocities (0.9 and 1.9 m/s) in the content of linalol of the Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). It was used a tray dryer specially built for this experiment in the drying laboratory of the UESB at the "Campus de Itapetinga-Ba". There were made four repetitions with 100 g of fresh leaves in each one of the five trays in the dry chamber In the extraction of the essential oil, a vapor hauling system was used and the oil analysis was made in a gas chromatographer that was connected to a mass spectrometer (CG-MS). The greatest extracted profits of basil's essential oil were obtained in the drying process with 40 degrees C of air temperature and 1.9 m/s of air velocity. The greatest profit of linalol was obtained with the air drying temperature in the range of 50-60 degrees C and 1.9 m/s of air velocity (2.23 and 2.47 ppm, respectively). It was estimated, by regression analysis, that the air drying temperature of 54.4 degrees C and the air flow of 1.9 m/s would provide the greatest profit of linalol. It was concluded that the chemical composition of the basil was affected by both drying air temperature and velocity.