Food drying - wikipedia Food drying This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( June 2011 ) This article only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject. Please help improve this article by adding more general information. The talk page may contain suggestions. ( July 2013 ) Flattened fish drying in the sun in Madagascar. Fish are preserved through such traditional methods as drying, smoking and salting. A whole potato, sliced pieces ( right ), and dried sliced pieces ( left ) Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is dried ( dehydrated or desiccated ). Drying inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold through the removal of water. Dehydration has been used widely for this purpose since ancient times ; the earliest known practice is 12,000 B.C. by inhabitants of the modern Middle East and Asia regions. Water is traditionally removed through evaporation ( air drying, sun drying, smoking or wind drying ), although today electric food dehydrators or freeze - drying can be used to speed the drying process and ensure more consistent results. 1890 newspaper advertisement showing tin of dried coconut Contents 1 Food types 2 Preparation 3 Other methods 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Food types A collection of dried mushrooms Sun - drying octopus Many different foods can be prepared by dehydration. Meat has held an historically significant role. For centuries, much of the European diet depended on dried cod -- known as salt cod, bacalhau ( with salt ), or stockfish ( without ). It formed the main protein source for the slaves on the West Indian plantations, and was a major economic force within the triangular trade. Dried fish most commonly cod or haddock, known as Harðfiskur, is a delicacy in Iceland, while dried reindeer meat is a traditional Sami food. Currently popular dried meats include prosciutto ( a.k.a. Parma ham ), bresaola, biltong and beef jerky. Dried fruits have been consumed historically due to their high sugar content and sweet taste, and a longer shelf - life from drying. Fruits are often observed differently when dried. The plum becomes a prune, the grape a raisin. Figs and dates are also transformed into new, different products that can either be eaten as they are, used in recipes, or rehydrated. Freeze - dried vegetables are often found in food for backpackers, hunters, and the military. Garlic and onion are often dried. Edible mushrooms, as well as other fungi, are also sometimes dried for preservation purposes or to be used as seasonings. Preparation Home drying of vegetables, fruit and meat can be carried out with electrical dehydrators ( household appliance ) or by sun - drying or by wind. Preservatives such as potassium metabisulfite, BHA, or BHT may be used, but are not required. However, dried products without these preservatives may require refrigeration or freezing to ensure safe storage for a long time. Industrial food dehydration is often accomplished by freeze - drying. In this case food is flash frozen and put into a reduced - pressure system which causes the water to sublimate directly from the solid to the gaseous phase. Although freeze - drying is more expensive than traditional dehydration techniques, it also mitigates the change in flavor, texture, and nutritional value.In addition, another widely used industrial method of drying of food is convective hot air drying. Industrial hot air dryers are simple and easy to design, construct and maintain. More so, it is very affordable and has been reported to retain most of the nutritional properties of food if dry using appropriate drying conditions. Other methods This electric food dehydrator has a hot air blower that blows air through trays with foods on them. Pictured are mango and papaya slices being dried. There are many different methods for drying, each with their own advantages for particular applications ; these include : Convection drying Bed dryers Drum drying Freeze Drying Microwave - vacuum drying Shelf dryers Spray drying Infrared radiation drying Combined thermal hybrid drying Sunlight Commercial food dehydrators Household oven See also Food portal Bouillon cube Curing Dried fruit Instant noodles Instant soup List of dried foods List of smoked foods List of foods Meat extract References Jump up ^ Grandidier ( 1899 ), p. 521 Jump up ^ `` Historical Origins of Food Preservation ''. Accessed June 2011. Jump up ^ Trager, James ( 1997 ). The Food Chronology : A Food Lover 's Compendium of Events and Anecdotes from Prehistory to the Present. Henry Holt. ISBN 080505247X. Jump up ^ `` Food Dehydrator reviews ''. www.dehydratorjudge.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016. Jump up ^ `` Modeling the thin - layer drying of fruits and vegetables : A review ''. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. Wiley - Blackwell. 15 ( 3 ) : 599 -- 618. 2016 - 02 - 04. doi : 10.1111 / 1541 - 4337.12196. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 08. ^ Jump up to : Si X, Chen Q, Bi J, Wu X, Yi J, Zhou L, Li Z ( 2016 ). `` Comparison of different drying methods on the physical properties, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of raspberry powders ''. J Sci Food Agric. 96 ( 6 ) : 2055 -- 62. doi : 10.1002 / jsfa. 7317. PMID 26108354. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Recent advances of novel thermal combined hot air drying of agricultural crops ''. Trends in Food Science & Technology. Elsevier. 57 ( A ) : 132 -- 145. 2016 - 10 - 30. doi : 10.1016 / j. tifs. 2016.09. 012. Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 25. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dried food. National Center for Home Food Preservation, drying section Food preservation Biopreservation Canning Cold chain Curing Drying Fermentation Freeze - drying Freezing Hurdle technology Irradiation Jamming Jellying Jugging Modified atmosphere Pascalization Pickling Potting Confit Potjevleesch Salting Smoking Sugaring Tyndallization Vacuum packing NDL : 00564857 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Food_drying&oldid=811450027 '' Categories : Cooking techniques Drying processes Food technology Dried foods Garde manger Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter Articles needing additional references from June 2011 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles needing context from July 2013 Articles with multiple maintenance issues Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Bosanski Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia עברית Magyar Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Русский Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Suomi Tagalog Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 21 November 2017, at 18 : 07. 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Question: advantages of drying as a method of food preservation
Answer: inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold