UNIT 3: DEHYDRA

CONCENTRAT
 LLO FOOD DEHYDRATION

The difference The difference The principle of

between between preservation by
dehydration and dehydration/drying dehydration, drying
drying and concentration and concentration.

The advantages of
The types of drying
drying foods.
 The difference between dehydration and
drying
• Both the terms ‘drying’ and ‘dehydration’ mean
the removal of water.
• But the former term is generally used for drying
under the influence of non-conventional energy
sources like sun and wind
• dehydration means the process of removal of
moisture by the application of artificial heat
under controlled conditions of temperature,
humidity and air flow.
 Drying Dehydration
Cheaper Costlier process.
Colour of dried product is Quality is better.
superior when compared to
dehydrated product.
Not practicable unless Yield is higher.
favourable conditions prevail.
Microclimate can be controlled.
Easy to maintain sanitary
conditions.
Cooking and keeping quality is
better.
Requires less floor area and
fewer trays.
 The difference between
dehydration/drying and concentration
• Drying refers to the • Concentration refers to
removal of relatively removal of relatively
low amounts of water large amount of water
from a material as as vapour at its boiling
vapour by passing hot temperature
air (evaporation).

• Concentration is not as effective as drying.

• Concentration is applicable in case of liquid foods
only.
How does drying
preserve the
food ?
• Drying removes the moisture from the food so
microbes cannot grow and spoil the food.
• Drying slows down the action of enzymes
 The principle of preservation by dehydration, drying and
concentration.

• The principle behind drying is that sufficient moisture

is removed, which is essential for growth of
microorganisms and for enzyme activity.
• Removal of moisture increases the storage life of the
product due to reduced water activity (aw)
• If the moisture content is reduced to 1% to 5% then
the product can be stored for more than a year.
• The processing should be done in such a way that the
food value, natural flavour and characteristic cooking
quality of the fresh material are retained after drying.
 The advantages of drying foods.
• Increase shelf life of products
• Decrease weight and bulk
• Retain size and shape of original food;
• Cheaper than the other methods of preservation
with less requirement of equipments.
• Storage of dried food products does not require
special facilities like refrigeration
• Dried food products are simple to store and pack
because of their low volume.
 Factors Affecting Drying Time
1. Surface Area
• It is desirable to maximize the surface-to-
volume ratios of the food to be dehydrated so
as to minimize the resistance to heat and mass
transfer.
• Generally, the smaller the food piece, the
more rapid the rate of moisture loss.
 Factors Affecting Drying Time
2. Temperature
• The hotter the air, the more moisture it will
hold before becoming saturated.
• Drying systems are designed to maximize
temperature differences between the product
and the drying air to increase the rate of
dehydration.
 Factors Affecting Drying Time
3. Air Velocity
• The faster the air velocity within a dehydrator,
the more rapid the rate of moisture removal.
• Food dehydrators are designed to maximize
the velocity of heated air moving around the
food particles to be dried.
 Factors Affecting Drying Time
4. Humidity of the Drying Air
• The drier the air, the more moisture it can
absorb before it becomes saturated.
• The relative humidity of the drying air
determines the final moisture content of the
food being dried.
 Factors Affecting Drying Time
5. Atmospheric Pressure and Vacuum
• Water boils at 100°C when it is at a pressure of 1 atm (760
mm Hg). As the pressure lowers, the boiling temperature
will decrease.
• If the temperature is maintained constant, a decrease in
pressure will increase the rate of boiling.
• Some concentrators and dehydrators are operated at
pressures below atmospheric pressure in order to increase
the rate of boiling and moisture removal. This is especially
important in the case of heat-sensitive food products.
 Quality changes during drying
1. Cell / tissue Shrinkage
• Shrinkage often occurs as a food product dries.
• The most common defects are:
(i) Tough, woody texture
(ii) Slow and incomplete dehydration
(iii) Loss of juiciness typical in fresh food
(iv) Become smaller, concave surface,
honeycomb effects
 Quality changes during drying
2. Case hardening
• As water move towards to the product surface, it carry
along dissolved solids with it
• As the water evaporates, these solids can be
concentrated, forming a hard glassy layer known as case
hardening
• This, in combination with shrinkage effects, tends to
block pores, preventing effective drying
 Quality changes during drying
3. Colour
• Non-enzymatic browning reactions (Maillard
browning); moisture 4-5% & high drying temp.
& storage temp. > 38°C
• Enzymatic browning (phenolic compund
oxidation)
• Oxidation (carotenoid and chlorophyll) ; high
temp., longer drying, increase pigment loss
 Quality changes during drying
4. Nutrient Destruction
• Losses of the more heat sensitive vitamins
(e.g: ascorbic acid and thiamine);Riboflavin;
• Lysine in milk is also heat sensitive
• milk proteins can be denaturated during drum
drying
 Quality changes during drying
5. Flavor & aroma
• volatile components are evaporated by the
dying process
• concentration effects can make the flavor
characteristics of dried products stronger
• oxidation can produce rancid flavor
 The types of drying

Adiabatic Osmotic Freeze Solid

drying Drying Drying surface
(hot air
drying) Drum
Original Drying
Mechanical
Drying Drying

-Sun drying Cabine Tunn Spray

-Shade t Kil el
drying
n
Fluidized bed
Sun drying
• heat from the sun & natural
movement of air
• the process is slow (3-4 days)
depends on food & atmospheric
conditions
• if humidity is high, food will get
moldy
• Inefficient method, because it
requires more spaces & drying
time
• exposed to dirt, insects, rodents,
bird waste
Shade drying
• When sunlight
causes discoloration
and
warping/shrivelling
• Eg. cinnamon
Cabinet / tray dryer
• trays contain foods,
heated air circulates
inside the chamber
Kiln dryer
• for grain drying &
dehydration of apple
slices
•  It consists of two storeys
with a furnace or burner
located on the ground
floor and wet material
placed on the top floor.
• The heated air from the
furnace rises by natural or
forced convection wet
material is spread in an
even layer of 10-20 cm. 
Tunnel drying
- serial trays of products
(carried on trucks), moved
through a tunnel
- hot air, distributed inside
tunnel,
- temperature distribution,
varies with :
~ type of heating
~ air flow arrangement
concurrent, or
countercurrent
Tunnel dryer
Fluidized-bed drying
• food can be dried by passing air through the bed
• heated air/gas moved upward & contact with food particles
• the free-flowing food particles begins to float and
• at the same time mixed thoroughly
• products : dextrin, dextrose, coffee, yeasts
Fluid bed dryer
Spray drying
• for liquid products, milk,
eggs, coffee,
pharmaceutical products
• liquid sprayed into
chamber, hot air is
blown in,
• rapid dehydration, large
surface area of droplets ;
• powder, collected by
gravity flow,
• cool, moist air exits near
the bottom
Spray dryer
 Drum drying
• hollow drum heated by steam
• liquid/slurry is applied onto drum surface
• to dry potato flakes, instant cereal,…
• can dry viscous food; paste, cooked starch
• heat transfer, conduction
• small quantity production
Disadvantages :
• high sugar content
food, not easily
scrapped off
• impart off flavour, off-
odor
• not suitable for salty
@ corrosive materials
Types of drum dryer
 Freeze drying
• reduction of product temp. (so product moisture
is in solid state) ; (freezing)
• decreasing the pressure around the products
(vacuum) < (4.58 torr, 0ºC),
• sublimation of ice achieved (ice crystals change
to vapor)
• dried product formed
• for ice cream, instant coffee, flavor essences,
pharmaceutical products,..
Advantages :
1. causes less damage
2. does not cause shrinkage or toughening of the
material
3. flavours, smells and nutritional content
remain unchanged

Disadvantages :
1. More expensive other than equipment
2. high energy demands lead to high energy costs
3. has a long process time
 Cooling
Food
coil
(frozen)

Refrigerator Vacuum
pump

Freeze dryer
Freeze
Dryer
 OSMOTIC DRYING

- dehydration of food by
immersion in liquid with a
lower water activity
- food loses water to solution,
while the sugar or salt diffuse
into the food
- diffusivity of sugar is much
slower than water diffusion (so,
only limited sugar absorption ;
& near the surface)
• the diffusion water into “candied fruit” can be
further enhanced by the disruption of
structural barriers in the fruit
• to helps speed the drying process;
~ using elevated temperature
~ stirring / agitating during process

• eg; apples can be reduced in weight by 50%

when treated to 70° Brix syrup at 50°C, while
stirring
 LLO FOOD CONCENTRATION

The methods
The The effects of
of food
concentration concentration
concentration
of foods. on food
.
 The concentration of foods
• Concentration of food means partial removal
of moisture from liquid foods to increase their
final total solids.
• The more common concentrated foods
include evaporated and sweetened condensed
milks, fruits and vegetable juices and nectars,
sugar syrups and flavoured syrups, jams and
jellies, tomato paste etc.
 The effects of concentration on food

• Concentration produces food with as high as

20% moisture content as compared to
conventional drying [0-20%].
• This method produces semi-moist food
product with high total soluble solid content
• Concentration process increases the solids
content and reduces the weight and volume of
a food (water activity (aw) is lowered.)
The methods of food concentration

Freeze
Concentration

Membrane
Evaporation Concentration
The methods of food concentration
1. Freeze concentration

a) Crystallization of water into tiny ice crystal using

scrapped surface heat exchanger
b) Recrystallization to form bigger ice crystal (in
recrystallizer)
c) Removal of the ice crystal using separation unit
Examples:
- juice concentration
- coffee extract
 Freeze Concentration
Feed Water
Recrystallizer

Juice
Scraped concen
surface heat trate
exchanger

Wash
column

Bigger ice
crystal
Tiny ice
crystal
Coffee extract Juice concentrate
The methods of food concentration
2. Evaporation
a) part of water is removed from liquid
food by boiling
b) water is removed at boiling point and
solution is at normal atmospheric
pressure until it reaches 70% total
soluble solid
c) the product formed is liquid
Principles:
- during concentration process latent heat is
transferred from heating medium to food until
reaching boiling point
- steam pressure is increased, & latent heat is
supplied by steam to form vapors in liquid
- the vapour is then removed from the boiling
liquid surface
Examples:
- Juice concentrate - evaporated milk
- Sweetened condensed milk
Evaporation
03/12/2020 55
03/12/2020 56
The methods of food concentration
3. Membrane Concentration
• Membrane processing is a technique that
permits concentration and separation without
the use of heat
• Particles are separated on the basis of their
molecular size and shape with the use of
pressure and specially designed semi-
permeable membranes
Applications :
-proteins can be separated in whey for the
production of whey protein concentrate
-milk can be concentrated prior to cheese making at
the farm level
-apple juice and wine can be clarified
-fermentation broths can be clarified and separated
-whole egg and egg white ultrafiltration as a pre-
concentration prior to spray drying
Membrane Concentration
The examples are :
- Reverse osmosis (RO)
- Ultrafiltration (UF)
- Microfiltration (MF)
- Electrodialysis (ED)
- Nanofiltration (NF)
Reverse osmosis
61
 Differences between concentration &
dehydration
• Dehydration • Concentration
• Moisture content = 0 • Moisture content =
– 20% 15 – 20 %
(powder = 1-5%)
• aW = + 0.60 • aW = + 0.85
• Dried product • Semi-moist food