NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF WHEAT GRASS POWDER AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT DRYING PROCESS.

Background: Wheatgrass is one grass that has been demonstrated to be of particular use to humans as a nutritional source of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, trace minerals and chlorophyll in addition to its various health benefits. Objective: In this study the nutritional composition of wheat grass powder was estimated which is obtained by different drying methods. Materials and Methods- Different drying methods used for preparation of wheat grass powder were 1) Hot air oven drying [50˚C,6 hr, 60˚C,5 hr.] 2) Microwave drying [600W,15 min, 800W,10 min] 3) Vacuum oven drying [50˚C,25kPa,6 hr] the proximate and ultimate analysis of the wheat grass powder samples was done by the method described by AOAC (2005) and obtained data was statistically analyzed by F-test Method. Results: In the proximate analysis microwave dried wheat grass powder [800W, 10 min] gave the highest mean value of crude fat (6.11), protein (21.28) and crude fiber (30.52), while the hot air dried wheat grass powder sample [50˚C, 6hr] gave the lowest value. In the ultimate analysis vacuum dried wheat grass powder gave highest mean value of vitamin and minerals such as ascorbic acid (10.21), calcium (22.49) and iron (12.74). Conclusion: Thus it was observed that microwave drying method and vaccume drying method is a best method to preserve nutritional benefits of wheat grass and can be added into our daily diet to reduce the risk of degenerative diseases.