Dehydration of biological materials with radiant energy and vacuum

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Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) is technique for drying heat-sensitive materials very quickly but at low temperatures so as not to damage biological activity. Vacuum is employed to lower the boiling point of water to just above the freezing point or even to far below the freezing point, then microwaves are employed to quickly evaporate the water without raising the temperature to destructive levels. Although based on principles established by others in the past, my research group has spent the last 10 years developing REV into a practical drying technology. My goal is to develop an economical drying method to replace freeze drying for many applications. REV is currently protected by about a dozen patents, most of them owned by The University of British Columbia and these patents have been licensed to a Canadian company whose goal is to commercialize the technology. Today REV is used for drying a few high-value food products such as berries and mushrooms. We have shown that it is able to dry bacteria without killing the cells, as well as to dry several drugs, antibiotics, enzymes and antibodies with little or no damage. We hope to further prove the usefulness of the technology for drying and stabilizing vaccines, probiotic bacteria, and natural antimicrobial agents.