THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS POSTHARVEST AND DIFFERENT DRYING TECHNIQUES ON MENTHA SPICATA LHERB QUALITY

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of various drying methods, packaging types, and storage durations on the percentage of essential oils and their major constituents as well as the total microbial count on mentha plants. The investigation was carried out between the years of 2019 and 2021. The results showed that the highest essential oil percentage in zero time was in the shade drying methods with 2.40%, followed by direct sun and oven drying methods with 1.98 and 1.17, respectively. Morover, during the 4, 8, and 12 month storage periods, the shade drying procedures had the highest as 2.22, 2.06 and 1.71%, respectively after 4, 8 and 12 Monthes. amount of essential oil. After 4, 8, and 12 months, the herbs packed in paper bags had a greater essential oil percentage than other packing methods, with 2.31, 2.08, and 1.06% respectively. Additionally, the herb with the highest essential oil content after a year of storage was shade dried and packed in paper bags. The lowest average Total microbile account (TMC, million/g) was found in the mentha dry herb that was sun-dried and packed in paper bages the values at 4, 8, and 12 months were 3.20, 3.58, and 3.60 in the first season and 3.30, 3.55, and 3.73 in the second season.The highest mentha oil contained levels of -pinene, 1,8-cineole, and carvone were discovered on harbe shade drying and paper packaging during one year storage.