Equipment technology improves the prospect of freeze-dried vegetables

Freeze drying equipment has stimulated the development potential of China's agricultural products processing. For a long time, our country's agricultural and animal husbandry products have been hovering in the export of raw materials or primary processing stage, giving people a general sense of low technical content. Through the development of freeze-dried vegetables and meat, etc., will improve the quality of China's export food, get a higher value-added.

Drying is one of the ways to keep the material from spoilage. There are many drying methods, such as drying, boiling, drying, spray drying, and vacuum drying. However, these drying methods are all performed at a temperature of 0°C or higher. The dried product is generally reduced in size, hardened in texture, and oxidized in some substances. Some of the volatile components are lost. Some heat-sensitive substances, such as proteins and vitamins, denature. Microorganisms lose their vitality. The dried material is not easily dissolved in water. Therefore, there is a big difference in the properties of the dried product compared to that before drying. The freeze-drying method is different from the drying method described above. The drying of the product is basically performed at a temperature of 0° C. or lower, that is, in a frozen state, until the later stage, in order to further reduce the residual moisture content of the product, the product is allowed to rise. Temperature above 0°C but generally not exceed 40°C.

Lyophilization equipment technology to improve the prospect of freeze-dried vegetables optimistic about freeze-drying is to contain a large amount of water, pre-cooling freeze into a solid, and then in the vacuum conditions to direct sublimation of water vapor, and the material itself left in the frozen ice shelf In the medium, therefore, it does not change its volume after drying, and loose pores absorb heat during sublimation. The temperature of the product itself is lowered to slow down the speed of sublimation. In order to increase the speed of sublimation and shorten the drying time, the product must be properly heated. The entire drying is performed at a lower temperature.

Vigorously develop freeze-dried foods, increase the value of deep processing of agricultural and sideline products, export, and earn foreign exchange. Processing freeze-dried foods, the larger the scale, the lower the production cost and the higher the benefits. For example, if garlic, carrots, and shallots are processed for 100 days each year, the annual output value of a 60-square-meter production line is 5 million yuan: a production line of 450 square meters, and the annual production value is 35 million yuan. The annual interest rate is generally 30%. the above. Such as the development of freeze-dried area of ​​1200 square meters production line, can process about 10,000 tons of fresh vegetables, can process more than 2,000 tons of frozen vegetables, the annual output value of up to 100 million yuan, the annual profit and tax up to 40 million yuan -50 million.

Problems to be solved in China's lyophilization equipment First, reduce costs and reduce energy consumption: Some lyophilizers in foreign countries do not use stainless steel, but use low-carbon steel to coat foods with dry resins, and emit infrared light at room temperature. The surface of the shelf is coated with high-performance far-infrared emitting materials to enhance its radiation capability; the surface of the tray is treated to enhance its absorption capacity. The optimization of structure, size and frosting characteristics of the water trap is more practical because the current cost is equivalent to the cost of the freeze-dried box and the power consumption is greater. For a lyophilizer, the heating system only supplements the heat of sublimation. The power consumption should not be too high, but the existing equipment is not satisfactory. The structure should be optimized and the energy consumption should be reduced.

Second, the development of continuous freeze-dried equipment: The current production of freeze-dried machines are mostly intermittent products, with the development of a large number of industrial technology, the development of continuous freeze-dried equipment, increase the output of freeze-dried products will be an inevitable trend.

Third, to ensure quality and improve performance In practical applications: Some manufacturers of lyophilizers can not be put into normal production after installation; Some lyophilizers can produce, but high energy consumption. Some components continue to fail and affect normal production. Therefore, the quality of the freeze dryer must be guaranteed. Increasing performance means that new features of the equipment are enhanced in addition to heating rate, pumping rate, temperature uniformity, and vacuum stability.

To develop China's freeze-dried food industry, it is necessary to develop China's food freeze-drying equipment. In response to the existing problems in freeze-drying equipment, the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Experimental Medicine, and Beijing Sihuan Scientific Instrument Factory of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences jointly completed the research and development of the “Intelligent Freeze Dryer Series Products”. , Green, and environmental-friendly single-machine hybrid refrigeration systems, developed by the multi-functional monitoring software to achieve the remote real-time collection of freeze-dried data, tracking and real-time monitoring of the freeze-drying process.

Therefore, it can be said that China's drying equipment industry has begun to enter a more mature stage, can better meet the actual needs of users in various fields, a large number of professional drying equipment factory, its products are both generic, but also have their own characteristics, which is The use of imported equipment for the drying of APIs and the selection of an ideal desiccator that complies with the new GMP provide conditions. In view of the green advantages of vacuum drying equipment, applications are increasingly widespread. In terms of food and drug drying, the demand for vacuum drying equipment of larger specifications will gradually increase, and the market prospect is very large.