Spray-Freeze-Drying of Foods and Bioproducts

Book excerpt: Spray-freeze-drying (SFD) is a synergistic drying technology that imbibes in it the merits of both spray drying and freeze-drying, whilst overcoming the limitations of these predecessor technologies. SFD produces uniquely powdered food and pharmaceutical products with porous microstructure and superior quality attributes. Owing to its atomization step and ultra-low-temperature operation, SFD is a competent drying technique for the production of valuable but sensitive bioactive components. Despite the costs and complexities involved, SFD has a competitive edge over the conventional drying techniques in providing distinctive product attributes. The applications of spray-freeze-drying in the area of food and bioproducts span across the product categories of instant food powders, dry flavors, active pharmaceutical ingredients, poorly water-soluble drugs, probiotics, proteins, enzymes and vaccines. Spray-Freeze-Drying of Foods and Bioproducts: Theory, Applications and Perspectives is the first exclusive title on this interesting drying technique. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of SFD and its food and pharmaceutical applications. The scope of this book, comprising 12 chapters, has been organizedunder four major headings: fundamentals of process-stages, applications with case-studies, recent advancements and the processing bottlenecks and solutions. Key Features Provides examples and case studies of nuances and intricacies associated with each stage of the spray-freeze-drying process Highlights the applications of spray-freeze-drying in the production of food products including soluble coffee, dairy powders, probiotics and flavors Serves as a ready-reckoner of characterization methods for spray-freeze-dried products Contains 200+ illustrations and tabulations The contents of this book are organized to cater to the knowledge needs of students, academicians, researchers and professionals in the food and pharmaceutical industry.