Preprint has been published in a journal as an article
DOI of the published article https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12799
Preprint / Version 1

Electrohydrodynamic drying: Can we scale-up the technology to make dried fruits and vegetables more nutritious and appealing?

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/jxmgu

Keywords:

Convective drying, Non-thermal drying, EHD drying, Scalability, Plant-based foods, Food quality

Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying is a promising technology to better preserve the nutritional content and sensory appeal of dried fruits and vegetables. To successfully scale up this technology, we need to rethink the current EHD dryer designs. There is also a significant potential to further enhance the nutritional content and sensory quality of the dried products by optimizing EHD process parameters. This study particularly highlights the current bottlenecks in scaling up the technology and in improving nutrient retention and sensory appeal of the dried products. We discuss plausible future pathways to further develop the technology to produce highly nutritious dried products. Concerning the nutritional content, we show that EHD drying preserves vitamins, carotenes, and antioxidants significantly better than hot-air convective drying. From the sensory perspective, we show that EHD drying enhances the color of dried products, as well as their general appearance. With respect to scalability, we show that placing the fruit on a grounded mesh electrode dries the fruit much faster and more uniformly than the grounded plate electrode. Future research should be directed towards simultaneous measurements of multiple food nutrients and sensory properties during EHD drying with a grounded mesh collector. Quantifying the impact of the food loading density on drying kinetics and energy consumption of the EHD drying process should also be a future research goal. This study gives promising insight towards developing a scalable non-thermal drying technology, tailored to the requirements of the current and future society.

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Posted

2020-12-07