Rationale for the post-harvest processing of leaf mass of agricultural crops using microwave radiation

Post-harvest processing of the leaf mass of various agricultural crops has general patterns. The peculiarity of the structure of the leaves is that the amount of water contained in the leaf blade and in the midrib is approximately the same, but the area of the evaporating surface of the midrib is 10–15 times less than the area of the evaporating surface of the leaf plate. Therefore, the difference in drying modes for these parts of the leaves justifies the need for different physical methods of influencing them. The aim of the research was to substantiate experimentally the general principles of moisture removal from the leaf mass of various agricultural crops using microwave radiation. Processing in the microwave field was carried out for 1,0; 1,5; 2,0; 2,5 minutes. The treated leaf layers were dried naturally. Leaves dried by convection under natural and artificial conditions, only without microwave treatment, served as a control sample. For the post-harvest processing of plantain leaves, a combined drying method is recommended, where in the first phase the leaves are treated with microwave radiation for 2,0–2,5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the leaf layer, and then in the second phase under natural conditions for 8 hours. Microwave – processing followed by convective drying in natural conditions is considered the most compromise method for drying beet tops leaves both in terms of drying time and in terms of the energy intensity of the process. On the basis on the results of the research, the application of the most rational processes of post-harvest processing of leaf mass of agricultural crops was substantiated, which consists in their processing by microwave radiation, followed by convective drying in a natural way

Influence of treatment of tobacco leaves with microwave radiation on quality indicators and quantitative composition of raw tobacco raw materials

Technologies for obtaining expanded tobacco have been developed, which make it possible to increase the volume of tobacco leaves up to 50% and reduce the consumption of tobacco raw materials in the manufacture of smoking articles by up to 30%. However, they have a number of disadvantages, the main one being a decrease in the tasting evaluation of raw materials. The subject of the research is to determine the effect of microwave radiation when processing freshly harvested tobacco leaves on improving the qualitative and quantitative indicators of tobacco raw materials. The object of the research is freshly harvested leaves of three botanical varieties of tobacco grown at the experimental site of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «All-Russian Research Institute of tobacco, makhorka and tobacco products», harvested in the condition of technical maturity. The purpose of the research is to study the effect of microwave- radiation treatment of tobacco leaves during their post-harvest processing on the possibility of obtaining expanded tobacco and on the qualitative and quantitative composition of raw tobacco. The following has been established: the obtained raw tobacco in terms of dimensional characteristics is similar to expanded tobacco obtained under factory conditions; carbohydrate-protein ratio (Shmuk’s number) in comparison with the control on has increased 2,5–4,5 times, and the nicotine content has decreased 1,3–1,4 times; the conventional consumption of raw tobacco for the manufacture of cigarettes is reduced by 8 ... 17% in comparison with the control one, depending on the drying technology. The results of the studies have revealed the positive effect of microwave radiation when processing freshly harvested tobacco leaves on the improvement of the qualitative and quantitative indicators of raw tobacco