Some Chemical Properties of Infrared Dried Neem Fruit in Turkey

Abstract

In Turkey, the Rosary (Neem) tree, known as the Melia azedarach L. is a type of evergreen plant. In the world, four different species of tree grows native in India, Burma, Pakistan, South Asia, and Australia. In our country, the Neem tree (Melia azedarach L.) grows naturally in tropical zones with light yellow fruit and green leaves. Fruits can reach maturity in September-October morphologically. Neem oil from fruits and powder from fruits and leaves are the main products which are traded in abroad as organic substances. In this study, neem fruit was investigated to obtain the neem oil from Melia azedarach L. in details such as moisture content (MC), drying rate (DR), moisture ratio (MR), Azadirachtin amount (AZ) and macro and microelement parameters. The fruits were collected from locally Turkey and de moisturized in the greenhouse for one week than dried in Infrared cabinet dryer to obtain the neem oil. The Azadirachtin amount results were found 46.1; 45.4; 48.4 (mg/g) through three replications.