author(s)
Sadhana Choudhury, M Hazarika, P Doley, A Das, S Upadhyay, BK Sarkar, P Gogoi and K Thakuria

abstract
A study was conducted to investigate the effect of drying methods on various qualities and shelf-life of dry pork balls treated with phytoingredients (viz. Amla, Carrot, Round lemon, Mint, and Pomegranate). The temperature maintained for Oven-drying was 60°C while for solar drying temperature was maintained between 55-60°C. For both the drying methods there were control and treatment groups which were further packaged by aerobic and vaccum packaging method. In the treatment groups phytoingredients were added along with cured meat, spices and condiments whereas phytoingredients and other non-meat ingredients were absent in control group. The products were kept at room temperature and changes were observed during storage up to six months. Due to addition of phytoingredients there were certain changes in the proximate composition of the dry products. TBARS values of the samples were affected due to antioxidant contents of the phytoingredients. The solar-dried samples had higher acceptability level than the oven-dried samples. The results were attributed to the various changes that occurred during the drying process. Solar-drying could be applied to produce hygienic pork products under hot and humid climatic environment over mechanical drying.