Telstar - Freeze-drying solutions
Telstar - Freeze-drying solutions
In temporary and perishable products such as fungus/mushrooms and some kind of fruits and vegetables is essential to maintain the quality of them until been consumed. The novelty proposed is the use of freeze-drying to dehydrate them to reduce their water activity to make it possible to preserve them for long periods of time (more than 6 months) and also to make it possible to reach markets that could not be reached if these products would have this high humidity. The freeze-drying is able to remove water from fresh products once they have been harvested, the operation can be done in a close area of the field. The final water content of the products can be at maximum of 1% (wet basis). This can be so useful to extend the self-life of fresh products in room temperature conditions. Moreover, this makes possible to access to new markets (exports) that fresh products could not access due to their perishability and to extend the commercial life of these temporary products along the whole year. This technique allows to maintain the quality aspects of the products (sensory, health-related compounds) better than conventional heating drying techniques, maintaining better also the shape and aspect of the product. This innovation can be used for a small/medium sized business or a multinational company, it is independent of the size of the business to be applied. The size and the capacity of the required freeze-drier depends on the volume of the production and initial and final moisture content of the material to be treated. The innovation proposed only requires electricity and compressed air so the country, region or location is not a limiting factor to be incorporated in the company that would need it. The suitable type of food to be processed is that one that has high moisture content, perishable and thermosensitive products (e.g. fruits and vegetable, fungus/mushrooms).

