ABSTRACT
Background: Drying is the most common way to preserve quality of aromatic and medicinal plants. Chosen drying methods can affect on the essential oil content and composition of medicinal plants
Objective: This study aimed to assess the changes in essential oil constitutes of catnip aerial part under various drying methods
Methods: The experiment was performed as the randomized complete block design [RCBD] with 10 treatments and 3 replications. The treatments were included the freshly harvested plants, sun-drying, shade-drying, oven-drying at 35, 45, and 55 [degree]C, microwave-drying at 100 and 200 W, and initial sun-drying followed by subsequent shade-drying and oven-drying at 45 [degree]C
Results: The result indicated that the various drying methods had a significant effect [p
Conclusion: In general, the oven-drying at 55[degree]C is recommended as an effective method to dry the catnip