New Insights into Drying Technologies’ Applications in Food Processing

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (13 January 2025) | Viewed by 2410

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Interests: drying, especially freeze-drying; chemical and physical changes in dried material during storage; food texture; biotechnological processes in bioreactors
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: food texture and rheology; drying and osmotic dehydration; acoustic properties of food; food foams; gels; extruded cereals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drying food is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. However, it is still of interest to scientists and technologists, as the demand for dried food is growing. Originally, these foods were dried raw materials intended for consumption in a dried or hydrated state. Currently, drying is used to dry completely unusual products, such as honey, to produce dietary supplements consisting of dried extracts from particularly nutritionally valuable raw materials and reproducible drinks or whole dishes. New challenges presented by the market and consumers and faced by producers of dried food have caused the drying process to evolve in terms of its technical, technological, raw material and final product aspects. Spray drying, which is the basis for the production of food powders, and freeze drying, which allows the preservation of food’s structure and nutritional value, is undergoing particular innovation. Products obtained using these techniques constitute the basis of the rapidly growing convenience food market, including quickly reproducible foods.

Scientists are conducting research into the optimization of process parameters to develop high-quality dried products that maintain favorable energy parameters. They are looking for the possibility of using various methods to provide the heat necessary to evaporate water, with particular emphasis on methods involving the direct production of heat inside food (e.g. via a microwave field, ohmic heating or infrared heating). This is intended to intensify the heat supply process and increase the overall energy efficiency of the heating process. Research is being carried out regarding the use of various pre-treatment treatments, e.g., using a pulsed electric field or ultrasound, the aim of which is to reduce the resistance to water movement in the dried material. Issues related to ensuring the high quality of dried products and their preservation during storage are becoming ever-more important. This has led to greater research into the coating of dried fruits, especially powders and freeze-dried products, which are particularly susceptible to changes in storage conditions.

Undoubtedly, a new look at the drying process is the analysis of changes in the structure of dried food, the physical properties of dried products (e.g. hygroscopicity) and the analysis of the phase changes that dried food ingredients undergo. This is possible thanks to the development of microscopic techniques, internal structure imaging (e.g. tomography) and thermogravimetric methods. The knowledge gained through these analyzes allows us to actively design the properties of dried materials, tailored to the needs of the consumer, which is also a new approach to food drying

Therefore, this Special Issue is open to the publication of research results and/or evaluations regarding new challenges and new technological approaches related to drying technologies and their application in food products.

Dr. Dorota Nowak
Dr. Ewa Jakubczyk
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • drying technologies
  • thermal processing
  • food dehydration
  • food preservation
  • radio frequency
  • inductive heating

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

28 pages, 2234 KiB  
Article
The Effect of the Use of Unconventional Solutions for Osmotic Dehydration on Selected Properties of Fresh-Cut Oranges
by Sabina Galus, Katarzyna Rybak, Magdalena Dadan, Dorota Witrowa-Rajchert and Małgorzata Nowacka
Foods 2025, 14(3), 468; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14030468 - 1 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1076
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of unconventional solutions on the osmotic dehydration of oranges. These solutions included xylitol, fruit concentrates (strawberry, cherry, orange), rosehip juice, and sucrose. The study examined dehydration kinetics, dry matter, total soluble solids, water activity, color, texture, sugars, vitamin [...] Read more.
This study investigated the effects of unconventional solutions on the osmotic dehydration of oranges. These solutions included xylitol, fruit concentrates (strawberry, cherry, orange), rosehip juice, and sucrose. The study examined dehydration kinetics, dry matter, total soluble solids, water activity, color, texture, sugars, vitamin C, polyphenols, carotenoids, and antioxidant potential, alongside microstructural observations. The results indicated that osmotic solutions and the dehydration time (3 h) significantly influenced the oranges’ physical and chemical properties. Cherry and strawberry concentrate solutions caused the greatest color changes, enhancing the dried product’s visual appeal. Oranges dehydrated with strawberry concentrate exhibited the highest polyphenol content (2909 mg chlorogenic acid/100 g d.m.) and antioxidant potential (11.0 mg TE/d.m.), while rosehip solution yielded the highest vitamin C levels (80.27 g/100 g d.m.), followed by strawberry (62.32 g/100 g d.m.) and orange (47.67 g/100 g d.m.) concentrates. These findings highlight the benefits of using fruit concentrates and juices in osmotic dehydration. The unconventional osmotic solutions resulted in a reduction in the hardness of dehydrated orange sliced from 0.65 N to the range of 0.36–0.60 N, except for strawberry concentrate, which resulted in the highest value (0.72 N). Key parameters, such as the water activity, dry matter, and dehydration efficiency, were more favorable compared to those in the sucrose solution samples. The organoleptic assessment recommended xylitol for maintaining sweetness without altering taste or smell, whereas strawberry juice scored lowest due to its foreign taste and smell. Overall, osmotic dehydration enhanced the nutritional and sensory attributes of oranges by allowing the penetration of bioactive compounds, making them superior to fresh raw material in tested parameters. Full article
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