2.2 Materials
Andrographis paniculata has been used for centuries in China, India, and Thailand to successfully treat upper respiratory tract infection, fever, sore throat, herpes, and an array of other infectious and chronic diseases. Therefore Andrographis paniculata is chosen to investigate the performance and then compare data with natural sun drying. The performance tests were carried out two times during June, 2011 and weight 100 kg of Andrographis paniculata were used for each test. In the morning, cut Andrographis paniculata were manually loaded into the product containers to be dried and the fans were started at the same times, from 8 a.m. and stopped at 5 p.m. All process was repeated in order to dry Andrographis paniculata until the final moisture was reached 8% (wb). Moreover, the sample products were also prepared and placed on any parts of the dryer and outside. Every 3-hour intervals, the samples were brought to weight until the end of process and they were taken in an oven to bake at 105