want to make dry ginger instead of selling fresh, asking about peeling, drying and how much dry I get
How to dry ginger into sonth (dry ginger) and what recovery to expect?
TThomas Varghese7mo ago · 321 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓7mo ago
To make sonth, harvest mature ginger at about 8 months, wash, scrape or peel the outer skin lightly, then sun dry for one to two weeks until hard and brittle. Soaking in water before peeling makes scraping easier, and some growers do a light lime treatment for white ginger, but check current buyer and food safety norms before using any treatment. Dry recovery is roughly 16 to 25 percent of fresh weight depending on variety, maturity and how much fibre and moisture the rhizome has. Bleached or unbleached and the cut grade decide the price, so ask your buyer what form they want. Confirm any chemical treatment and the accepted moisture level with the Spices Board or your KVK since rejected lots lose money.
BBiju7mo ago
Light scraping with a bamboo splinter instead of a steel peeler keeps more of the skin oils, our buyer pays a bit more for that. Steel peeling removes too much.
RRajeevan6mo ago
Harvest at full maturity if you want dry ginger, the young rhizome has too much water and the recovery drops badly. My fully mature lots gave me a much better dry out turn than the early dug ones.
MMathew Sebastian6mo ago
One caution from experience, ask the buyer first whether they want bleached or unbleached. I dried a whole lot the plain way and the buyer wanted the white limed type, so the rate I got was lower. Fix the form and moisture with the buyer before you start.