page_title: Freeze-drying
section_title: Freeze drying of food
hierarchical_section_title: Freeze-drying / Applications of freeze drying / Freeze drying of food
caption_attribution_description: English: Space food produced by the Bulgarian academy of sciences
context_page_description: Freeze drying, also known as lyophilisation or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product, lowering pressure, then removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conventional methods that evaporate water using heat.
  Freeze drying results in a high quality product because of the low temperature used in processing. The original shape of the product is maintained and quality of the rehydrated product is excellent. Primary applications of freeze drying include biological, biomedical, food processing and preservation.
context_section_description: The primary purpose of freeze drying within the food industry is to extend the shelf-life of the food while maintaining the quality. Freeze-drying is known to result in the highest quality of foods amongst all drying techniques because structural integrity is maintained along with preservation of flavors. Because freeze drying is expensive, it is used mainly with high-value products. Examples of high-value freeze-dried products are seasonal fruits and vegetables because of their limited availability, coffee; and foods used for military rations, astronauts/cosmonauts, and/or hikers.
caption: Freeze-dried Bulgarian apricot, melon, meatball soup, tarator
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