Progress 01/01/12 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The 100% off-grid solar drying method has been demonstrated to Central Oahu farmers, American Samoa Community College staff and the Chamber of Commerce in American Samoa in year 2015. Changes/Problems:One major change was the target crop for drying shifted from taro to breadfruit due the additional funding sources obtained in year 2014. The US DOI prefer to have the funded demonstration to be conducted in American Samoa and to use the local favorite crop of breadfruit and sweet potato. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two TV program at 30 minutes for each were produced by the American Samoa TV station to demonstrate the feasibility of drying then pulverizing the dried grits into shelf stable flour for baking and pasta making. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results and findings of this off-grid solar drying project has been made into two posters, two TV programs (mentioned above) and several newspaper articles in year 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Size reduction with a food chopper was identified as essential to achieve fast drying with solar energy. 2. A 20 ft freight container was retrofitted with 5 photovoltaic panels at a capacity of 1.5 kw was tested to be able to dry 150lb of sweet potato, after the tubers were chopped by the food chopper to grits of 1/2 inch in diameter. 3. The dehydration falling curve of sweet potato and breadfruits were established. The water activity of the tubers decreased from 0.72 to 0.40 when moisture content decreased from 12% to 5%. The water activity of 0.40 is the microbial safe threshold for these starchy materials.

Publications

• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Huang, A. and Schulman, L. 2015. Breadfruit of the Pacific. www.PacificBreadfruit.com

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Value-added farmers in Oahu County (Clyde Fukuyama, Norman Oshiro, Tony Law, Frank Law, You Sakaseum) Changes/Problems: Due to the enhanced interest in Oahu and the county of Honolulu in late 2014, I request an extension of this dehydration project at least for one more year to end in year 2016 instead of the current 2015 ending time. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The above findings have been shared with Oahu farmers and the Kauai dry fruit producer (Micky's dry fruits). Micky's dry fruit has purchased 3 dryers based on our findings and he has obtained 32 Foodland grocery accounts in 2014, expect to gross over two million dollars in year 2015. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through one-on-one coaching. A workshop is being planned with the County of Honolulu in March 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? 1. To finish the photovoltaic connection with the tunnel dryer. 2. To work with County of Honolulu to dehydrate more surplus farm produce in year 2015.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Prototype tunnel dryer has been tested in Kauai (Micky's dry fruits) and in Kahuku (Oahu) to dry sweet potato and breadfruits. 2. Photovoltaic panel has been assembled and tested at about 14% efficiency. 3. The dehydration curves of these tubers have been established for the first 4 hour period.

Publications

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Starch staple producers and farmers in Hawaii, including farers of taro, sweet potato, breadfruits and ginger roots. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 1. Two food science undergraduates have worked on this project as their capstone training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? 1. The breadfruit farmers in the Hawaii county have shown a lot of interest in assemble an off-grid solar dehydrator for their products as breadfruis start deteriorate much faster than taro corms. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? 1. Establish a reasonable size proto setup for production trial and demo.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Pretreatments of taro corms have been established. 2. Drying rate of treated taro corms over an 48 hour period has been established.

Publications

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Worked with and provided technical with Omni-Green Co. of Hawaii, which has a similar USDA grant on solar dehydration on banana and taro. A written proposal for collaboration was submitted to Omni-Green in July 2012. A conference presentation entitled " University of Hawaii support on Breadfruit flour study", was accepted for a Samoa Conference on Breadfruit Dehydration, held on December 5, 2012. PARTICIPANTS: Bill Akiona, OmniGreen Co. provides solar dehydrator for studying taro dehydration. 2. Dr. C. Cheshire of the Pacific Business Center provided the contact with the Western Samoa program on breadfruits. 3. Elliott Curelop, a food science major and student helper for this project has provided able assistance in the dehydration of taro slices. TARGET AUDIENCES: 1. Producers of dehydrated taro, sweet potato and breadfruits to improve dehydrated product with cost savings. 2. companies in the Pacific interested in using solar dehydrators in their production and dehydration operations. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: To add breadfruits as one of the crops to be tested with the solar dehydrator. The starch compositions between taro corms and breadfruits are very similar and the Samoans are very interested in the breadfruit flour production.

Impacts
Our study on drying taro has been used by Western Samoa's breadfruit program based on our finding in the optimal drying temperature and the thickness of the slices. Taro and breadfruits have very similar starch composition so the information was applicable.

Publications

• No publications reported this period