Shandong Science

   

Effects of direct-contact ultrasonic vacuum drying on the drying characteristics and quality of dandelion

CAI Yuan-yuan 1, 2,DONG Hong-jing 1, 2,SHAO Rencai3,LIU Feng 1,2*   

  1. 1. College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, China; 2. Shandong Engineering Research Center for Innovation and Application of General Technology for Separation of Natural Products, Shandong Analysis and Test Center, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan250014, China; 3. Ningbo Xinzhi Bio-technology Co., Ningbo315000, China
  • Received:2025-03-26 Accepted:2025-04-16 Online:2025-11-18
  • Contact: LIU Feng E-mail:liufeng8109@qlu.edu.cn

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of direct-contact ultrasonic vacuum drying on the drying characteristics and quality of dandelion. Dandelion samples were dried under different ultrasonic power levels and compared with samples processed via vacuum freeze-drying, shade drying, and hot-air drying in terms of color, flavonoid content, and cichoric acid content. Results showed that the drying rate increased with increasing ultrasonic power and drying temperature. The Page and Two-term models provided the best fit for the drying kinetics. The color of samples dried via direct-contact ultrasonic vacuum drying at 192 W was closest to that of fresh samples among all considered methods. At 192 W, the flavonoid content in the solution after rehydration was significantly higher than that obtained using other drying methods (p < 0.05). In addition, total flavonoid and cichoric acid contents at 192 W were 57.09 and 12.35 mg/g, respectively. Furthermore, comprehensive evaluation using the entropy weight–grey relational analysis method showed that the samples dried at 192 W exhibited the highest correlation degree and ranked first overall among all drying methods. This study confirms that direct-contact ultrasonic vacuum drying can effectively improve the drying characteristics and quality of dandelion, providing references for applications in food and traditional Chinese medicine.

Key words: dandelion, direct-contact ultrasonic vacuum drying, drying characteristics, quality

CLC Number: 

  • R283.3

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