Commercial Demonstration of Innovative, Energy Efficient Infrared Processing of Healthy Fruit and Vegetable Snacks

This project will demonstrate an energy efficient drying technology for the commercial production of cost-effective and high quality snacks.

Industrial and Agricultural Innovation

Agricultural Research Services, United States Department of Agriculture

Recipient

Albany, CA

Recipient Location

7th

Senate District

14th

Assembly District

beenhere

$882,271

Amount Spent

closed

Completed

Project Status

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Project Result

The technology was successfully demonstrated at the Treasure8 facility in Richmond, achieving 82% energy savings compared to freeze drying while inactivating up to 99% peroxidase enzymes.?The project was highlighted at the California League of Food Processors Expo 2018, UC Davis's Picnic Day, and was featured in the California Food Producers magazine, Edition 2, 2017. The team demonstrated the technology to food processors and equipment manufacturers who were impressed by the technology and the taste of the dried products. Since completion, Treasure8 received venture capital funding and is been further developing and commercializing the SIRDBHAD (now SAUNA)?technology to tackle a variety of products (whole foods, hemp extracts, food waste, plant-based proteins, and nutraceuticals) and?partnered with a global food equipment manufacturer to produce its dehydration machines at scale.

The Issue

Drying is one of the most energy intensive operations in the food processing industry. The most common method of producing fruit and vegetable based snacks uses freeze-drying. However, freeze-drying is an energy intensive technology and has high capital cost. Hot air drying is widely used; however when it is used alone it cannot produce crisp snacks with the desired flavor and texture. It is also energy intensive due to prolonged drying times.

Project Innovation

The Sequential Infrared Dry-blanching/Dehydration and Hot Air-drying (SIRDBHAD) technology replaces the current blanching and freeze-drying methods to produce vegetable and fruit based crisp snacks with potential for up to 82% energy savings, without using any water. Vegetables are fed into an infrared blancher/dryer equipped with a catalytic infrared emitter, then conveyed into a hot air dryer to finish drying. The surface structure is changed during IR blanching and dehydration and makes the final product crisp. At the same time, IR energy is transferred as radiant energy, which makes this technology very efficient compared to freeze-drying and hot air drying. The catalytic chemical reaction does not generate any NOx emissions or greenhouse gases.

Project Benefits

The SIRDBHAD technology will replace the current blanching and freeze-drying methods to produce vegetable and fruit based crisp snacks with potential for up to 82% combined thermal and electric energy savings, without using any water. The benefits include energy savings, while at the same time producing healthy snacks with a desirable texture and flavor at a reduced cost.