Drying is a critical part of the post-harvest handling of MAPs.  In Albania MAPs are traditionally dried outside, exposed to the sun and wind. These traditional drying practices often lead to reductions in the quality of MAPs, particularly reductions in their active ingredient and essential oil content. Drying outside also risks contaminating the MAPs with materials such as bacteria, yeast and mould.  Post-harvest losses can therefore be very significant, resulting in lower product quality, lower prices, and ultimately lower income for businesses and households involved in the production of MAPs.

Ideally the drying of MAPs should be done using artificial or enclosed dryers to control the drying process (particularly temperatures) and protect the MAPs from contamination. This is expensive though, in terms of the initial investment and operating costs, particularly energy costs. Drying in Albania represents around 50% of the total costs of MAPs production, this has increased this year as the price of fossil fuels has increased.

CNVP is currently implementing a project supporting the development of the MAPs sector. The project is funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Tirana. As part of the project CNVP is partnering with four Albanian MAPs exporting companies to test innovative MAPs drying technologies which are easy to construct and cheap to operate. Based on suggestions of existing scientific literature, technical testing conducted and input from national and international experts, three solar drying systems have been identified and tested by CNVP’s partner MAPs exporters.  CNVP has also been supporting a local business to manufacture the drying systems, ensuring that they are easily accessible to other businesses interested in investing in these dryers. The systems use the air stored in special designed roof systems, heated directly from sun light and then circulated in the drying areas where the plants are deposited for drying. The humidity, temperatures and drying process is controlled automatically from the system based on the drying material.

The first operation and drying results are producing good results. In the relatively sunny days of November, the temperatures inside the drying systems varied from 30 to 45 degree Celsius, an optimal temperature for drying MAPs marketed in Albania.