By Simon Ngena

IN this part of the world, we are lucky to have rain for at least three months a year meaning that for rural communities, unless you have access to irrigation water, fresh vegetables are only available for a very short time.

Since most rural families have no access to electricity or refrigeration, drying becomes a vital means to preserve food and thus obtain a wide range of nutrients during the long, dry times of year.

Drying food removes water while concentrating the nutrients so that if done properly, it can be even more nutritious to eat dry food rather than in its fresh form. Dried products can be added directly to cooking or reconstituted by soaking in water before cooking. Drying helps preserve food by removing the water that helps germs to grow.

Apart from nutrition and preservation aspects, dried food lasts for months and is portable, making it ideal subsistence for someone working in the fields or herding livestock. From a marketing perspective drying makes products easier to store, package and transport.

In Zimbabwe a wide range of food is consumed dry notably fruit, vegetables, tubers, mushrooms, meat, fish and insects. We are lucky in that several of our wild fruit (including baobab, nyii and masawu) dry themselves naturally giving them a long shelf life.

With our long hot dry-season food drying is easy and has become even more widespread in the past decade or so with the promotion of solar dryers.

Now a wide range of dried vegetables can be found in shops including pumpkin, okra, carrots, beetroot, green peppers, onions and tomatoes. Dried herbs and teas are also becoming popular while fruit such as bananas, guavas, pawpaws and mangoes are sold in supermarkets.

Some make flours from pounded, dried tubers such as sweet potato, cassava, tsenza and madhumbe. These flours can be used to thicken soups and sauces or made into baked products including biscuits and cakes.

Dried fruit can be ground into powders which is then used to make drinks or to add flavour and nutrients to porridge, or sour milk. Dried vegetables and herbs can be pounded and blended into soup powders. You can make your own usavi (soup/gravy) mix and keep it in a glass jar until you need it.

Drying methods

• – Crops should be placed in a dryer within 48 hours of harvesting.

• – Sort produce into groups of similar ripeness.

• – Wash in cool, clean water and remove any blemished or damaged sections.

– Peel, cut, slice or grate the produce (depending on the type) into thin pieces of similar size so that they take the same amount of time to dry.

– Green vegetables should be blanched  before you dry them in order to maintain colour and flavour and improve the shelf-life.

– Arrange the produce on the drying trays or racks.

– The produce to be dried should be covered by mosquito netting or some other gauze to protect it from dust and insects.

– Dry produce as quickly as possible – preferably in one day.

– Keep checking the produce and turn it over to ensure that all parts are drying.

– If you notice any mould or insect damage remove the affected produce from the dryer immediately and discard it.

– Once it has completely dried, store the produce in clean, dry, dark, airtight containers in well-ventilated places to avoid mouldy conditions.