Pressure agglomeration herbaceous raw materials intended for consumer purposes

Abstract

Herbs production in recent years is steadily increasing and in 2015 it was over 21 Gg. Such materials are produced most often in particulate form and dried to the moisture content below 10 %. Such processing makes this material very challenging in terms of transportation and logistics. The low bulk density as well as the need to protect them from weathering makes the storage and shipment of these materials costly. Taking into account the above arguments there is a need in the market to improve some properties of these materials, especially in terms of storage and logistics. The paper presents the study, where two types of dried herbs, which are extremely popular in the food industry, chives (Allium schoenoprasum L.) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum) were investigated. The main assumption was to improve the specific density of the product, while keeping the bulk properties of the product as well as minimizing formation of the dust. The study showed that the both types of dried herbs are materials with high potential in production of high quality agglomerates, without causing a significant increase in dusty fraction. This could lead to important improvements in processing of herbs, especially in the case of transportation and storage.