Drying reduces the water activity of food product and hence increases the shelf life of the food. In the present study, fresh asparagus roots were pretreated in hot water at 80oC for 5 min. The methods of drying used for the study were tray drying, solar drying, vacuum drying and fluidized bed drying at four temperature levels 40, 50, 60 and 70oC. The complete drying of asparagus follow falling rate period only. The total time for drying decreases with increase in temperature of drying air from 40oC – 70oC. Fluidized bed dryer has a highest average drying rate as compare to tray dryer, solar dryer and vacuum dryer. Four empirical models, namely Page’s, Exponential, Generalized exponential and Logarithmic model were fitted in the drying data to describe the phenomena of drying process using a linearized regression technique. It was found that the Page’s model was best as it describe most precisely about the drying behavior of asparagus roots. The effective moisture diffusivity of asparagus roots varies from 7.14 × 10-9 to 3.70 × 10-8 m2/s and it was also found that diffusivity increases with increase in temperature. The activation energy was found to be from 11.797 to 30.318 kJ/mol.

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Asparagus (Asparagus racemosus L.) is one of the most significant traditional medicinal plants, containing phytochemicals that are non-nutritive but beneficial to health. It contains bioactive metabolites such as fructo-oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, asparosides, shatavarins, sapogenins, racemosols, isoflavones, glycosides, mucilage, and fatty acids, while saponin is one of the main active constituents of asparagus roots. Asparagus helps in fertility promotion, stress management, and hormone modulation. It also treats stomach ulcers, kidney disorders, and Alzheimer's disease. Substitution of asparagus powder or extract for value addition of food products (such as beverages, bakery, and milk) enhances the nutritional and functional properties. Currently, the plant is considered endangered in its natural habitat because of its destructive harvesting, habitat destruction, and deforestation. As it is a highly perishable commodity, it needs proper handling, preservation, and storage. This review will outline the medicinal properties, uses, value addition, and preservation techniques of asparagus roots. The study found that, till now, the only preservation techniques used to increase the shelf life of asparagus roots are drying and irradiation.

Peeling is a significant stage of post-harvest processing of fruits or vegetables. The most adopted peeling methods are mechanical, steam, chemical, and manual peeling. Apart from these methods, some other methods such as enzymatic, infrared, and some methods like ohmic heating, ultrasound-assisted lye peeling, and pulse electric fieldassisted steam peeling are also used. To concern the freshness of the product, manual peeling is the most ideal method but it consumes an inefficient amount of time and physical labor. Mechanical method consumes less time and under this process, the collected peel can be utilized in the by-product stream. Lye peeling is an efficient method but the disposal of lye after the process is an environmental concern. Adjusting this system to include ultrasound, ohmic heating and CO 2 laser drilling coupled with moderate electric fields can be used to reduce the lye requirement. Enzymatic peeling produces good quality products with low waste but can only be applied to fruits whose distinct separation of peel from the flesh is needed. PEF-assisted steam peeling helps immensely in terms of cost-saving by reducing the high use of steam. Infrared dry-peeling only heats the superficial layer of fruits and possesses minimal effect in an edible inner portion of fruit. It uses less time with low peeling loss, high peelability, high peeling yields, thin skin is peeled-off, but needs more research to justify industry implementation. In conclusion, the novel method assisted peeling can be used to save the time, environment, and quality of the fruit or vegetables. Practical applicationsPeeling is the primary post-harvest process applies to the group of foods and it is crucial to have minimal damage to the products at this stage. For utilization of the peeling process in any processing, the knowledge of the all available and efficient peeling process for the individual fruit or vegetable is necessary. The main objective of the review is to outline the applicable current and novel peeling techniques for the commodities with their process conditions, mechanisms, advantages, and disadvantages. | INTRODUCTIONFruits have an outer layer or covering known as the pericarp, cuticle, skin, or peel. This outer layer is made up of cells that form a polymer matrix with intra-cuticular waxes covered in a polymeric skeleton (Caseres, Andrade, & Filho, 2012). It has many physiological functions, but most importantly acts as a barrier to protect against entry by pathogens, mechanical damage, nutrient leaching, and water loss (Peschel, Franke, Schreiber, & Knoche, 2007). Peels might either be consumed or removed, depending on their properties. Fruits like guava, apple, and grapes have a cohesive peel, which is tightly attached to the pulp and as the fruit matures, the peel becomes