Freeze-Drying Trivia – A Revolution in Food Storage & Processing
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The process of freeze-drying added a new life to food storage and made the processing easy to handle. Incidentally, the process of freeze-drying was known to the ancient Peruvian Incas of the Andes. They used to store their potatoes and some other foods in the mountains above Machu Picchu. The food used to get frozen due to cold mountain temperatures, and the water slowly vaporized due to the low air pressure at high altitudes. It was commercially developed in World War II but, was not filed with a patent law attorney or patent attorney California. The main reason is that a freeze-dryer was not a real invention but has eventually evolved from a laboratory instrument.
The simple idea of this process is to remove water content from frozen food. Most of the food we take has a lot of moisture content and it is the very moisture that is responsible for spoilage of food. The dehydration brought about under vacuum takes care of the moisture problem, thus giving the food a longer life. A freeze-dried food will not just last longer but is also very light. This makes the food perfect for space travel.
Talking about food that has been freeze-dried, the first name that comes to our mind is Nescafe. This was the first freeze-dried coffee produced in 1938 by Nestle. It also led to the production of powdered food products since then. Technically, the process of freeze-drying is referred to as Lyophilization and works on the idea of removal of water from dissolved or dispersed frozen solids. But let us see how it actually works?
How it Works?
As you know freeze-drying is meant for the preservation of food, but it can also be used to purify different materials. Wherever this process is conducted, it will have these four steps
1. Freezing: The food has to be frozen first to a very low temperature. This provides the appropriate conditions for the proper drying of food.
2. Vacuum: Once the food is frozen, the food is placed under vacuum. This way the water from the food vaporizes from its solid state without going through the liquid phase. This process in which water skips a phase is known as sublimation.
3. Heat: In order to speed up the process, heat is applied. Applying heat along with vacuum basically speeds up sublimation.
4. Condensation: Finally, the low temperature condenser plates eliminate the vaporized solvent from vacuum chamber by converting it back to solid. This completes the separation process. However, the final step can be avoided if the simple drying rather than separation is needed.
With freeze-drying, the moisture content of the food product is controlled. This means you do not have to cook or refrigerate it, but still it will be preserved in its natural flavor and color with this process. Preservation of food was just one merit, but this process also solves the problem of space food systems by providing them a staple diet during the travel. A lot of flights to the orbit these days last many days and even weeks. The freeze-dried food will be easy to handle, and provides sustenance to the astronauts during their journey.
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Source by Connor R Sullivan