Freeze drying is one of the most promising ways of preserving food and other products. Conventionally people used simple dehydration methods to preserve food. The problem with those methods was that they would alter and compromise the quality of the products. 

So, for instance, they would change the taste, smell, color, texture, nutritional content, or structure of the food items or other products. Freeze drying, on the other hand, doesn’t cause any damage to the food or other products that are preserved through this method. 

That doesn’t mean it’s perfect because it also has its problems. Freeze drying removes the water content from food items through a process known as sublimation. However, while doing so, other products, especially volatile ones like acetic acid, may also get removed. So, freeze-drying also can lead to undesirable effects. 

But, everything considered, freeze-drying is the best method we have for preserving foods and other products. It’s one of the most widely used preservation techniques. If you are interested in preserving food at home, you can order your own small freeze dryers from LeDAB that are very easy to use and worth the price. 

If you are wondering what the common applications of freeze-drying are, apart from food preservation, the following is a brief overview of that:

  • Pharmaceutical Uses

Freeze drying is perhaps the most common method used to increase the life of many pharmaceutical products. It is used for lyophilizing sucrose cakes. 

Vaccines and biologics are dried frozen in order to increase their shelf life. Apart from increasing the shelf life of pharmaceuticals, freeze-drying also makes pharmaceutical products lighter and easier to store and ship. 

The products can then, later on, be reconstituted to their original forms. Vaccines for measles and typhoid are lyophilized using freeze-drying. 

  • Taxidermy

Freeze drying also helps preserve the bodies of dead animals. Fish, insects, crustaceans, and many other species of animals are commonly freeze-dried. The reason why most pet owners prefer freeze-dried taxidermy is that it’s not invasive upon the animal’s body. 

  • Coffee

Coffee can be dried through many methods, most importantly simple room temperature drying. However, these methods lead to a loss of essential amino acids in coffee. 

Coffee that’s freeze-dried has higher concentrations of lysine, phenylalanine, and leucine. 

Also, freeze-drying maintains the original taste and aroma of the coffee, which can be compromised in cases of room temperature drying. 

Conclusion

Whether it’s a snack, an animal, or your favorite coffee, preserving them is very easy with the help of freeze-drying. Freeze drying could be used both at home, with your own freeze dryer machine, or in industries like the pharmaceutical and food industries.