An innovative surface impregnation method as a means of ensuring high quality freeze-dried products in the logistical cycle from production to consumption

The main objective of the operation is to develop an innovative, globally new surface impregnation technology that, when applied to the freeze-drying process, will ensure the high quality of freeze-dried products, which are prone to texture changes from the moment of manufacture as a result of water vapour absorption from humid air and loss of volatile compounds and mechanical losses during transport, storage and warehousing.

The use of innovative surface impregnation process will address this problem by removing the causes of quality deterioration caused by water resorption and thereby ensuring that the highest standards characterising the freeze-dried product are maintained from manufacture to consumption.

At the same time, there will be a significant extension of the shelf life of the freeze-dried product, which will contribute to maintaining stable supply chains.

It will be possible to achieve these results by achieving the specific objectives:

• selection of coating ingredients and technical solutions to impregnate freeze-dried food to improve mechanical and chemical properties and extend storage life at laboratory scale;

• to transfer the scale of the impregnation process lyophilisate from laboratory to industrial conditions through the design and construction of a facility for the production of impregnated lyophilisates;

• carrying out mechanical and physico-chemical analyses to determine the effectiveness of the developed and applied innovative impregnation technology for products obtained at laboratory and industrial scale.       

        

The main benefits of the project

The operation will develop a globally innovative technology for the impregnation of freeze-dried products using natural components that act as a barrier to the loss of volatile organic compounds and limit the rehydration of the acquired freeze-dried products. The proposed technology is waste-free using dessert-quality raw materials produced by highly specialised production farms.

In order to obtain a product of the desired highest quality, it is necessary to use raw materials meeting the highest quality requirements. The technological solutions proposed in the operation will allow the use of the highest quality raw material, whose supply and price are limited by the seasonality of production. This will have a direct impact on the development of specialised agricultural sectors focused on the production of high-quality raw materials, the selling prices of which are much higher than in the case of raw materials for industrial purposes.

The solutions developed as part of the planned operation will make it possible to produce food with a significantly extended shelf life, resistant to the impact of adverse conditions occurring during transport. The resulting significantly improved product in the form of impregnated productsfreeze-dried , thanks to its new functional properties, will make it possible to ensure a stable and sustainable supply of food with stable storage parameters.  

The operational group is composed of consortium members representing scientific entities and agricultural producers as well as SMEs from the processing and consultancy sector. The composition of the consortium is chosen to enable the flow of developed knowledge and technological solutions between cooperating entities and their commercialisation among recipients of innovative solutions. Universal solutions will be able to be implemented in similar productions all over the world.

The exchange of knowledge and experience between different completely unrelated sectors of activity (scientific entities, entrepreneurs, farmers, etc.) influences the broadening of horizons in other thematic categories and the ability to take action and search for solutions in topics, so far considered foreign. The transfer of knowledge and the technological solutions developed will take place, among other things, at the scientific conference planned to be held by the Operational Group, which will be attended by representatives of various economic sectors.

Additional comments

The solutions developed as part of the planned operation will make it possible to produce food with significantly prolonged shelf life, resistant to the impact of adverse conditions occurring during transport. The obtained significantly improved product in the form of impregnated freeze-dried products, thanks to their new functional properties, will make it possible to ensure a stable and sustainable supply of food with stable storage parameters. The freeze-drying process requires energy-consuming technological operations, cooling and then sublimation dehydration of the food. The resulting products retain a high content of bioactive and nutritional compounds, but are highly susceptible to rehydration. Poorly protected freeze-dried products lose their properties as a result of the natural process of moisture absorption, and in extreme situations they constitute troublesome waste. The innovative technology proposed as part of the operation has little effect on increasing energy demand and, by changing the functional properties of the product, eliminates the problem of rehydration and the generation of waste, which is burdensome and necessary for disposal. The proposed technological solutions are waste-free, do not involve the emission of noxious gases into the atmosphere, and the components used are exclusively of natural origin.