I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Drying food is a simple, low-cost way to keep food safe foreating. Drying removes water that small organisms use to break downfood into other substances. Some of these substances may bepoisonous to humans.
A device that uses the sun is a good way to dry food. There areseveral kinds of solar dryers. The easiest to build is called thedirect dryer. The sun shines directly on the food being dried. Thedirect dryer is a box with holes in it so that air can enter andleave the box. It has a cover made of clear glass or plastic. Whenthe sun shines into the box, heat is produced. The heat is trappedinside the box and cannot escape back through the cover. The heatdries the food.
The solar dryer works better if the sides of the box are black.This is because dark colors hold heat while light colors reflect it.One way to make the sides black is to use wood that has beenblackened by fire.
If you use black paint instead, be sure the paint contains nolead. Lead is poisonous to people, especially children.
The box can be made of almost any material such as wood, concreteor sheet metal. The dryer should be two meters long, one meter wideand twenty-three to thirty centimeters deep. The sides and bottomshould have additional material, called insulation, to keep the heatfrom escaping.
The surface on which the food is placed should permit air toenter from below and pass through to the food. A surface made ofwires with small square openings works very well. You should usewire with the largest openings or squares that do not allow the foodto fall through. Air that comes in from below the wire surface willalso carry away water evaporated from the food as it dries.
A direct dryer will dry most vegetables in two-and-one-half tofour hours at temperatures from forty-three to sixty-three degreesCelsius. Fruits take longer, from four to six hours at the sametemperatures.
Solar food drying is fast, safe and low-cost. It is also healthybecause nutrients such as vitamin C are kept in the food. Solardried food also tastes and looks good.
You can get more information about solar food dryers from thegroup Volunteers in Technical Assistance. VITA is on the Internet atv-i-t-a dot o-r-g. (vita.org.)
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by GaryGarriott. I’m Gwen Outen.