Frontline Food Consultants Engineers provide end-to-end solutions for the processing of excellent dehydrated fruits & vegetables. From finding the best suppliers and selecting produce at its peak ripeness to implementing more efficient drying techniques, we assist in making your products taste better, look better, and be better for your customers. Our Dehydration Process Optimization Services ensure the correct techniques of dehydration is applied – air drying, freeze drying, vacuum drying, and more – maintaining the quality of the produce while increasing shelf life. Substantial emphasis is also placed in making products more dimensionally stable and improving textural characteristics which will help the dried fruits and vegetables to be in good condition while stored or transported.

To cater for consumer’s demand on natural and eco-friendly produce, Our Sustainability and Ingredient Sourcing Support delivers organic or locally sourced produce. When you need new dried product concepts, such as snack mixes or powders for culinary uses, our R&D group collaborates with you. We have also listed Regulatory Compliance Services to ensure our consumers that their products will conform to food safety and labeling regulations as required by the law. Our Packaging Solutions minister for protective form, moisture and contamination of delicate dehydrated fruits and farm-produced vegetables for longer shelf life and product display.

What is Fruit and vegetable Dehydration? 

Exhaustion of water in food is achieved in order to prevent the growth of bacteria, yeast and molds which consequently makes the product to have a longer shelf life. The dehydration process begins with picking standard produce worthy of the consumer’s table fresh fruits, vegetables, or any food produce. These are washed, sliced or cut to the desirable sizes in order to allow even drying.

It is then taken through heat treatment, aeration or vacuuming so as to remove every bit of moisture without having to cook or burn the food. The common dehydrating techniques include Air Drying, Freeze Drying, and Vacuum Drying.  Once the food has developed the desired texture and quality it is cooled and stored in moisture-proof airtight bags so as not to rehydrate or spoil. The final product can be stacked atop one another for months without depreciation of value, making it excellent for snack foods, food ingredients, or emergency food storage.

The preparation of dehydrated fruits and vegetables demands and uses other related equipment like washers and peelers mainly for cleaning raw fruits and vegetables. It is necessary to take a natural dehydrator like an air, freeze, or vacuum dehydrator to drain the water while retaining the nutrients and taste of the food. Cubers are used for cutting the fruit and vegetables into smaller sizes depending on the required size of dried fruits and vegetables. After the process of dehydration, weighing and packaging machinery can make positive identifications and ensure that portions are accurate, vacuum sealing equipment prevents moisture from getting back into the packaging. There are good quality control system measures that were adopted in drying and product quality.

Types of Dehydration Methods

Sun Drying

  • Definition: The method most common whereby the fruits and vegetables are dried using natural exposure to the sun.
  • Characteristics: Cheap but requires weather constraints and may take a long time.

Air Drying

  • Definition: Utilises heated air to reduce the moisture content of the produce.
  • Characteristics: Dries faster than sun drying and can be done even inside a house.

Spray Drying

  • Definition: Dry food is added to a liquid food spray system and then fed into a hot drying chamber where the liquid food is quickly converted to powder.
  • Characteristics: Good for juices and purees which form fine powder.

Freeze Drying

  • Definition: Preserving the freshness of the produce by freezing it and then easing pressure to allow the frozen water to change directly to vapor.
  • Characteristics: Reduces nutrient losses and maintains good product structure quality of dried products.

Oven Drying

  • Definition: Baking fruits and vegetables using normal ovens or baking ovens that employ convection.
  • Characteristics: Relatively kept environment yet a consideration of some energy is needed.

Techniques of Making Dehydrated Fruits and Vegetables

Selection and Preparation

  • Choosing Produce: Using quality fruits and vegetables and avoiding spoilt or old stocks.
  • Cleaning and Peeling: Washing and peeling, where appropriate (and as needed) to remove and eliminate grime as well as other impurities.
  • Cutting and Slicing: Slicing into even portions so that the drying will also be done to equal portions.

Blanching (Optional)

  • Definition: Short duration of cooking or steaming of vegetables and fruits before dehydration.
  • Purpose: Inactivates enzyme that causes loss of color, texture, and nutritive value in fruits and vegetables.

Dehydration Process

Sun Drying

  • Setup: Cultivating the fruit and vegetables that are placed on trays where other people are exposed to direct sunlight.
  • Monitoring: Daily or every few hours turning the produce on the abrasive surface to make sure they dry uniformly.

Air Drying

  • Setup: Removing produce and placing them in drying chambers that either blow air or hot air.
  • Monitoring: Temperature and humidity control for achieving the best drying condition.

Heat pump drying

  • Continuous conveyor drying
  • Microwave dehydratio

Spray Drying

  • Setup: Injecting liquid food into hot drying compartments.
  • Monitoring: Changing the temperature setting of the equipment and the spray rate to get to the right powder texture.

Freeze Drying

  • Setup: Chilling produce and putting it in a vacuum-sealed chamber.
  • Monitoring: Maintaining pressure and temperature levels so that sublimation is done the right way.

Oven Drying

  • Setup: Place various fruits and vegetables on individual trays and put those trays in an oven.
  • Monitoring: Low temperatures and proper airflow – temperature should be low and it should be consistent with the airflow at the same time.

Packaging and Storage

  • Packaging: Letting out dried products to cool as well as putting them in moisture-proof packs to enhance quality.
  • Storage: RI: These are well stored under cool and dry conditions to extend their shelf life during panting.

Equipment Used

Cleaning & Preparation Equipment

  • Washers: Used to wash vegetables and fruits in an event that normal washing is not enough.
  • Peelers: For efficient skin removals.
  • Slicers: For creating thickness in fruits and vegetables at an equal dimension.

Blanching Equipment

  • Blanchers: For steaming or boiling produce with short cooking time only.

Dehydration Equipment

  • Sun Drying: Tables and shelves of the variety used in air-drying processes.
  • Air Dryers: Controllable drying chambers with ventilation opening.
  • Spray Dryers: Chambers for atomizing liquid foods.
  • Freeze Dryers: Chambers for sublimation under vaccum.
  • Ovens: The mode of baking is controlled convection or conventional oven for controlled drying.

Packaging Equipment

  • Sealers: For making hermetic closure on packaging.
  • Labeling Machines: For affixing of labels with product information and company logo.

Quality Control and Testing

  • Moisture Content Testing: Holds the air to the dehumidifying levels as preferred.
  • Sensory Evaluation: Evaluates the intensity of taste of dried products and physical characteristics within categories related to color and texture.
  • Nutritional Analysis: Validates the retention of nutrients after dehydration.
  • Microbial Testing: Checks whether products contain no hazardous microorganisms.
  • Shelf-Life Testing: Establish what the shelf life of dried products is under other conditions.