International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.11, 96-101
97
To deal with these problems, the Department of Fisheries is promoting use of solar tent dryers in collaboration
with Chancelor College and World Fish Centre as a scientific and technological interventions to reduce fish
spoilage, increase quality of processed fish and above all an environmental friendly (SMART) technology that
reduces adverse pressure on natural resources such as removal of forests for fuel wood which is contributing to
global climate change in the fisheries sector (Figure 1). Solar tent dryers assists in reducing postharvest losses,
improving organoleptic properties, and decreasing microbial contamination which are the common limitations of
open sun drying (Sablani et al., 2003; Basunia et al., 2011).
Figure 1 Fire wood (L) smoking (c) and deep frying
Several studies regarding quality of processed fish from Lake Malawi are available (Banda et al., 2016). However,
no work has been reported for
Copadichromis virginalis
(Utaka) an endemic species to Lake Malawi. The fact that
the solar tent drying studies has never been done on
Copadichromis virginalis
(
Utaka
) underscores the need for
such study to determine quality of the processed fish for its nutrient content, level of microbes and sensory scores.
This paper endeavors to fill this knowledge gap for use by fish processors, consumers and regulators.
1 Materials and Methods
1.1 Solar tent dryer construction
The Solar tent dryer was made up of a UV treated polythene 200 µm sheet worn over a wooden frame (Figure 2).
The dimensions of the solar tent dryer were 12 m
×
5 m
×
5.5 m (length
×
width
×
height at the center). The height
at the side was 2.5 m. The solar tent dryer consisted of inlet air vent on the bottom with a dimension of 30 cm ×
30 cm and outlet vents up on both sides of the vertex with a dimension of 40 cm
×
40 cm. This provided for
natural circulation of air to speed up the convection current process. Both vents well sealed with galvanized fine
meshed gauze wire to prevent entry of flies. The dimensions of the drying racks were 11 m
×
1 m (length
×
width).
In order to provide air circulation, the gap between drying racks was 90 cm. Air conditions (temperature and
relative humidity) inside solar tent dryer and outside were monitored using Davis Vantage VUE data logger at 2 hr
intervals.
Figure 2 Solar tent dryer
