Method for processing fresh plants to be stored between low positive and negative temperatures

A method for processing freshly picked plants comprising the following steps:

• (a) adding water activity depressors to consumable pieces of plants and mixing them to form a mixture, the water activity depressors being added in an amount so that the resulting mixture pieces of plants have the following composition:
• from 8% to 55% of water activity depressors, a water activity at 20.degree. C. ranging from 0.60 to 0.80, and a mineral salt content on the order of 8% to 30% and/or a glucides content on the order of 5% to 25%;
• (b) deep-freezing the mixture;
• (c) extracting from the frozen mixture a predetermined total amount of water by a sublimation process having a primary desiccation and a secondary desiccation, by stopping the sublimation process during the primary desiccation or at the very beginning of the secondary desiccation until the examining water content of the mixture is between 30 to 55%, such mixture .then having dry, still frozen and/or moist pieces of plants;
• (d) homogeneously mixing the mixture from which the predetermined total amount of water was extracted so as to allow for a migration of water from the frozen pieces of plants towards the moist pieces of plants and the dry pieces of plants;
• (e) collecting the pieces of plants from the homogeneously mixed mixture, wherein no rehydration step is required before use of the pieces of plants.