DEHYDRATION METHOD FOR COMMINUTED FOOD PRODUCTS

摘要

The present invention relates to a method of dehydrating a comminuted food product containing at least 30 wt . % of water, the method comprising: (i) comminuting a food product to form a slurry; (ii) contacting the obtained slurry with a pressurised gas to reduce the water content of said slurry by at least 50 %, said pressurised gas having a pressure of at least 0.5xPc and a temperature of at least Tc-60 °C, wherein Pc represents the critical pressure and Tc represents the critical temperature of the gas, whereby the pressurised gas is dried by removal of water contained therein and the dried pressurised gas thus obtained is recirculated to the slurry, wherein at least 80 wt. %, preferably at least 90 wt . % of the matter removed by the pressurised gas is water, and (iii) separating the pressurised gas from the dehydrated slurry.