Fluidized Bed Drying of Fruits and Vegetables

The search for novel technologies in the area of food processing and preservation has led to the application of fluidization technique for enhancing the process capabilities, energy efficiencies and overall quality retention in the final products. However, this paper reviews the various fruits and vegetables dried in the fluidized bed dryer and their retention of sensory attributes in the dried products. This review states that fluidized bed drying indeed has proved better compare to conventional drying in respect to drying time of fruits and vegetables especially for better product structure and its shorter reconstitution time. Fluid-bed drying of different fruits and vegetables particles has been investigated. The results have shown that drying of fruit and vegetable in a fluidized bed produces dry fruit and vegetable particles of improved quality in a much shorter time, with improved rehydration times and qualities, than in continuous belt-driers that are generally used