The process of lyophilization or dehydration by cold and pressure is a process that helps to dry all kinds of food. It is an ancestral drying method that comes from the Incas in Peru, who were the first to develop this method naturally. Being more than 4000 thousand meters above sea level, the Inca raised their food to the highest parts of Machu Picchu, keeping their food there. Due to the low temperatures of the night, low pressures and ideal temperatures to generate sublimation, the first lyophilization was obtained naturally.
So how does freeze-drying work today? By means of machines that help us replicate the freezing of food up to -50 degrees Celsius, added to a second machine that empties all the air that is inside the chamber and sucks the water that is inside the food under pressure, simultaneously generating a little heat in the food in order to reach a point where the water goes from a solid to a gaseous state without passing through the liquid.
Thanks to this drying process we are able to obtain high quality food with a long shelf life due to the minimum amount of water in the food. But this is not all, we can also create foods free of any type of additives such as sweeteners, sugars, solids, or preservatives. These products are not only winners for their durability, but also excellent ingredients for your daily intake, since we obtain a high concentration of nutrients in small amounts of product, creating true Superfoods that are easy to take anywhere, with excellent flavor and crispy texture.
Speaking in the nutritional field, there is a difference between the result of a freeze-dried fruit and a fruit that is subjected to an ordinary heat or dehydration process. In the first process, most of the vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and their amount of macronutrients are not significantly altered, in this way the nutrients are preserved and we obtain a portion of fruit with a low amount of sugars and therefore, low in calories. On the other hand, the fruit that is dehydrated loses most of its vitamins and minerals, its macronutrients are altered by concentrating or raising the amount of sugars present even more than fresh fruit, adding that the food industry sometimes adds other types of preservatives or sugars for a better flavor or longer shelf life.
-LN. Andrea Reyes
Nutritional Consultation / Maternal-Child
Follow: @lnandrearmeza