Barroca, M. J.Guiné, Raquel P. F.Amado, A. M.Ressurreição, S.da Silva, A. MoreiraMarques, M. P. M.de Carvalho, L. A. E. Batista2020-10-152020-10-152020http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/6386The Sarcocornia genus is an extreme salt-toler- ant plant that can be cultivated in saline habitats almost worldwide. To preserve Sarcocornia perennis, convective drying experiments were conducted and their effects on the physico-chemical properties and phenolic content of the plant were studied using conventional and vibrational spectroscopy techniques. The drying process of Sarcocor- nia perennis at temperatures of 40 C, 50 C, 60 C and 70 C revealed three periods of convective drying process with drying times ranging between 4.5 and 24.9 h, respectively to higher and lower temperatures. The heating- up period can be neglected as compared with the drying process, and the duration of constant rate period, as a percentage of the total drying time, ranged between 34 and 20% respectively at 40 C and 70 C. The Modified Page model was proposed to describe the drying process at the different temperatures. From a nutritional point of view, this halophyte plant may be considered as a good source of fibres, phenolic compounds and natural minerals, such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The convec- tive drying, in the temperature range currently used, was found to preserve the colour, nutritional characteristics and phytochemical value of Sarcocornia perennis. These results were confirmed by FTIR-ATR and highlight the potential use of the dried plant in novel food products.engHalophyte plantsSarcocorniadrying processKineticsFTIR-ATRjournal article10.1007/s13197-020-04482-7