Enhancing food quality through a novel low-energy dehydration machine using GaN solid-state RF generators to maintain nutritional value of dried foods for nutraceuticals.

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Natural ingredients are the source of the majority of health-benefitting vitamins/minerals/enzymes consumed by humans. Spinach and carrots alone contribute over 13 different vitamins and minerals. These become denatured when dried using high temperatures (48degCelsius) meaning that their organoleptic and nutritional quality is diminished. When used in nutraceuticals and functional-foods, health benefits are limited.The specific need and challenge that we propose to address is the preservation of key chemicals/nutrients in natural ingredients during the dehydration/drying process. Traditional approaches to drying foods for consumption comprise freeze-drying and heat-drying. These processes are high-energy and reduce the nutritional value of the foodstuff, denaturing vitamins, minerals and enzymes through heating, with freeze-drying taking 36 hours.This project seeks to unlock the health benefits of dried natural ingredients by preserving key nutrients through a novel alternative for drying.This technology is truly game-changing for the nutraceutical industry, with critical improvements over current processing technology: maximum nutrient retention, reduced carbon emissions, improved energy efficiency, faster processing times and lower cost. We are positioned significantly ahead of incumbent competitors, and on project completion, will be set for rapid commercialisation.Mildtech UK Ltd and Harper Adams University are collaborating on this project to design and build a higher capacity dehydration machine, testing key materials commonly used in dehydration for nutraceuticals to rapidly scale to commercialisation post-project.