Manufactura de un Deshidratador Solar para Chiles

Chili peppers are an important horticultural crop in the Huauchinango region, and a large part of the harvest is used for dried chili peppers. One of the drying methods used is traditional home-based smoking, which requires maintaining a constant temperature to allow the smoke to penetrate and slowly dehydrate the peppers. Others use hot air dehydration processes, which are often generated by burning fossil fuels. Since hot air is a non-renewable energy source, its depletion is accelerating daily. The main objective of this article is to develop a portable and sustainable solar dehydrator for chili peppers using solar thermal energy. This is considered a great option for drying chili peppers in the Huauchinango region, helping to protect the environment while preserving the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the product. This was the reason for initiating the development of the solar dryer prototype. The first tests were carried out using serrano and jalapeño peppers, resulting in an optimally dehydrated product. Finally, sensors and fans were placed on the device for temperature and humidity control, and a graphical interface was implemented in LabVIEW that shows the user the system monitoring.