Introduction
Pandanus amaryllifolius belongs to the
Pandanaceae family and is known for its aroma.
Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. possess uniquely
fragrant leaves and is widely cultivated in South East
Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
The major constituent of these leaves i.e. 2-acetyl-1-
pyrroline has commercial significance as a flavour
constituent that imparts the characteristic aroma to
scented rice varieties in India and in several Asian rice
varieties (Buttery et al., 1982). Pandanus leaves are
traditionally used for cooking common non-aromatic
rice to impart a resemblance of the basmati aroma to
the cooked rice. The compound can be added to nonaromatic
rice varieties and rice-containing dishes. It
can also be used to flavour meat and vegetable products
or blended with other flavour enhancing sauces or
compositions. Along with the aromatic properties the
leaves have been reported to have compounds with
antiviral (Ooi et al., 2004) and antioxidant (Nor et al.,
2008) properties, which encourages the use of leaves.
The leaves are perishable in nature because of high
moisture content. For the effective utilization of the
leaves, the postharvest processing aspect is important
so that the quality of the leaves can be preserved
with enhanced shelf life (Routray and Rayaguru,
2010). Dehydration is a useful method of preserving