Resumen
This study aimed to evaluate the influence of different drying air velocities, with manual and automatic control, on the essential oil and citral content extracted from lemon grass leaves. The drying tests were carried out using a fixed-bed dryer. The treatments were arranged in completely randomized design with a factorial 3x2: three drying air velocity (0.8 m s-1, 1.3 m s-1 and 1.8 m s-1) and two control system of air velocity (automatic and manual), with three repetitions. The essential oil contents, after drying, were compared with the values obtained from the fresh plant (control). The essential oil extraction was performed by hydrodistillation. The identification and quantification of citral was made by gas chromatography. From the results obtained, it could be concluded that the drying air velocities of 0.8 m s-1 and 1.3 m s-1 with manual control provided the best results for the extraction of essential oil in lemon grass leaves. The different drying air velocities and control system (manual and automatic) did not influence the chemical composition of the essential oils.