Typically, Thio Setiowekti takes 2 days to dry 60 kg of fresh stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). Please understand, farmers in Jayagiri Village, Lembang District, West Bandung Regency, West Java Province, rely on drying from the hot sun. Drying takes longer during the rainy season up to 2 weeks. Apart from being dependent on the weather, the water content of dried stevia from drying in the sun is uneven and the leaves often turn brown.

“The water content of the product produced is not uniform and has the potential to be contaminated with dirt. Meanwhile, the market wants stevia leaves with a moisture content of less than 10% and the leaves are still green,” said Thio. Now, since 2018, stevia farmers only need 8 hours to dry the leaves of this plant, which is a member of the Asteraceae family. Of course it lightens Thio’s work.

It turned out that Thio was using a tumble dryer from a grant from the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Penelitian, Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat, dan Inovasi (PPMI), Program in August 2021. The machine is made of stainless steel 430 in the category safe for food contact (food grade) and the rack is made of iron. stainless steel 304. The drying cabinet measuring 1.3 m x 0.6 m x 1.6 m is powered by LPG gas. Prof. Dr. Ir. Lienda A. Handojo, M.Eng. and the team equipped the device with a dimmer to lower power when using electricity.

Full News: https://pengabdian.lppm.itb.ac.id/information/pengering_stevia_semula_48_jam_kini_8_jam