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A Critical Review of Dehydrofreezing of Fruits and Vegetables

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Abstract

Freezing is a very well established food preservation process that produces high-quality nutritious foods that offer the advantage of a long storage life. However, freezing is not suitable for all foods, and freezing does cause physical and chemical changes in many foods that are perceived as reducing the quality of the thawed material. Many innovative freezing processes are currently being researched and developed throughout the world to overcome these problems. One of these is dehydrofreezing. Dehydrofreezing is an adjunct to freezing in which a food is first dehydrated to a desirable moisture content and then frozen. It is particularly suited to fruits and vegetables. Since fresh fruits and vegetables contain more water than meat, and their cellular structure is less elastic, they are prone to more damage during freezing than meat. Removing some of the water prior to freezing theoretically allows the ice crystals to form and expand without damaging the cellular structure. Reducing the water content prior to freezing also has the potential to reduce the freezing time, the initial freezing point, and the amount of ice formed within the product. Despite being often cited as a new, novel or emerging technology, the concept of dehydrofreezing was developed in the 1940s. However, it has remained a niche process being commercially applied to products such as potatoes, carrots, and onions. In recent years there has been renewed interest in dehydrofreezing, and this review looks at the most recent innovations in dehydrofreezing research.

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The authors would like to thank Air Products for funding the work required to carry out this study.

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James, C., Purnell, G. & James, S.J. A Critical Review of Dehydrofreezing of Fruits and Vegetables. Food Bioprocess Technol 7, 1219–1234 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-014-1293-y

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