Dehydrated fruit or vegetable food product of crunchy texture and cluster form, and production method and apparatus thereof

A method for producing a dehydrated fruit or vegetable food product, comprising:

• A) preparing the fruit or vegetable in the following steps;
• A.i) rinsing, disinfecting, and removing rind and pit or core of the fruit or vegetable, if any;
• and A.ii) cutting the fruit or vegetable into pieces;
• B) dehydrating and puffing the fruit or vegetable pieces to generate an intermediate product with a crunchy texture;
• C) homogeneously admixing the dehydrated and puffed fruit or vegetable pieces obtained in stage B with a liquid binder suitable for human or animal consumption;
• D) forming clusters by compression and molding of the admixture of fruit or vegetable pieces and liquid binder obtained in stage C;
• E) drying the clusters obtained in stage D to substantially remove excess water and recapture the crunchy texture of the fruit pieces.

An equipment assembly for the production of a dehydrated fruit or vegetable food product, comprising:

• means for rinsing, disinfecting, and removing the rind and pit or core of the fruit or vegetable, if any, and cutting the fruit or vegetable into pieces;
• means for dehydrating and puffing the fruit or vegetable pieces;
• means for homogeneously admixing the dehydrated and puffed fruit or vegetable pieces with a liquid binder;
• means for forming clusters of the admixture of dehydrated and puffed fruit or vegetable and liquid binder by compression and molding;
• and
• means for drying the clusters.