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Kava Research Lost product during the drying part of production? PLEASE HELP

bdarley5

Newbie
I am an engineering student working on a kava production improvement project, I am trying to decide on a problem to try to improve. I am looking at the drying process and was wondering if there were any producers or people who know producers who can tell me how much product is lost due to mold or something similar during their drying process, is rain a big problem?

Thanks
 

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
During the dry season you can just spread kava out in the sun, no problem. In the wet season you'll need a roof or a heated drying machine.

Vanuatu traditionally consumes their roots wet. Drying is something done mainly for the overseas market. Farmers deliver wet roots to a central buyer who dries them for export.

Fiji, on the other hand, prefers dried roots. Drying is done before kava crosses the farm gate.
 

kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
I am looking at the drying process and was wondering if there were any producers or people who know producers who can tell me how much product is lost due to mold or something similar during their drying process, is rain a big problem?
For farmers producing for the local market, little is lost to mould, mainly because once the kava is ground into a powder, the mould isn't visible. This type of low-quality kava is only sold in local markets of course, and not exported.
However, that's not to say that rain isn't a problem. Kava production drops significantly in the wet season because many farmers hold off for dryer weather.
In the past, Fiji had a thriving copra industry. Copra is dried in wood-fired driers, and these dryers were common throughout the northern part of Fiji. When there was too much rain, kava was dried in these driers. However, the copra industry has declined significantly and these driers are now a rare sight.
You can get an idea of what a copra drier looks like between the 30sec and 60sec mark in this video:
The problem with these driers is that the kava acquires an unpleasant smokey flavour and aroma.
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
In previous discussions here about kava drying practices in Fiji I had wondered if solar powered drying kilns would be useful for kava, considering the limited availability of electricity in remote areas, and as @kasa_balavu says kava dried in a wood-burning oven tastes pretty bad.

Something like this wood-drying kiln:
https://sbio.vt.edu/for-the-community/vt-solar-kiln.html
A difference though is that a wood kiln is designed to dry the wood very slowly so it doesn't warp, whereas for kava the goal is to dry it a quickly as possible to prevent mold, yet not allow it to get so hot that it is altered chemically, so the design would likely need to be customized... Also that design uses electric fans to circulate air, so to be fully-solar powered it would also need to include solar electric panels..

This Kava Quality guide from Fiji has some more information about drying techniques and optimum temperature (see p. 62)
https://pafpnet.spc.int/attachments/article/779/Fiji-Kava-Quality-Manual.pdf
 
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