New Insights into Drying Technologies’ Applications in Food Processing

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