MSc. Nguyen Thi Van Linh
Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms belongs to the Araliaceae family distributed mainly in tropical countries such as India. The leaves are a source of biologically active components such as chlorophylls, polyphenols, especially flavonoids. Although Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms leaves can be used to prepare herbal teas, nutritional powders rich in fiber and antioxidant activity, this part has not been used widely. Therefore, the research team of Faculty of Environmental and Food Engineering (Nguyen Tat Thanh University) has carried out a project entitled “Study on the kinetics of moisture loss and chlorophyll decomposition during the microwave-assisted and hot-air drying of Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms leaves”. The results showed that the microwave drying of Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms leaves has retained high biological value for the product, particularly chlorophylls. Subsequently, various herbal tea bag recipes were developed based on the dried leaves. The results of sensory evaluation using hedonic test on the panelists consisting of a group of students and a group of middle-aged people showed that the color, smell and taste of products were of high acceptability, which also demonstrated the commercial potential of tea bag formulations from dried Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms leaves.
a) Fresh Polyscias fruticosa Harms leaves
b) Dried Polyscias fruticosa Harms leaves by microwave-assisted drying
c) Herbal tea bag from dried Polyscias fruticosa L. Harms leaves
