Today’s consumer values have led consumers to demand maximum nutrition from high-quality food sources.
The Freeze-drying process was developed by NASA in the 1960s to preserve the full nutritional value, colour, shape, taste, and aroma of the original raw food and to produce light-weight food packs with indefinite shelf life.
The Freeze-drying process maintains 100% of nutritional value, unlike all other forms of dehydration, further supporting consumers’ desire for nutrition from whole foods.
The difference is that freeze-drying allows dehydration to take place without raising the temperature of the fresh food product. All other forms of drying require elevated temperatures which destroy the nutrition and other characteristics of the food product.
These days, freeze-dried ingredients can be cut or ground into different sizes and shapes – everything from whole fruits and vegetables down to fine powders. Freeze-dried products can be easily mixed into any blend or formulation for a flavour profile unique. They remain natural and nutritious, not artificial.
Growing categories of freeze-dried applications include hot and cold breakfast cereals, retail-ready or ready-to-eat snacks, and beverage applications such as smoothies where whole freeze-dried fruit pieces added to beverages. Chocolate dipped freeze-dried fruits and berries has become a global taste phenomenon with their sherbet-like tang.
The shelf life of any given product directly links to the moisture content of that product. Removing water through the freeze-drying process removes all moisture and the potential for bacterial growth. The shelf life of fully freeze-dried products is theoretically infinite. The shelf life for any given freeze-dried product depends on the packaging, storage temperature of the product itself.
Dynapumps markets a range of Food Freeze Driers for all scales of production. Their range of machines covers batch runs of 4 -2000 kg.