Method for production of frozen vegetables or fruits
AssigneeOlam West Coast, Inc.
InventorsWade H. Swanson, Ingrid A. Montgomery, Abizer M. Khairullah
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for producing frozen and dehydro-frozen vegetables and fruits, wherein the method includes the method of cryogenically freezing the fruits or vegetables.
Claims24
A method for making a frozen food product, the method comprising:
- obtaining an amount of a raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof, wherein the raw fruit or raw vegetable comprises at least about 90% moisture by weight;
- air drying the raw fruit, raw vegetable or combination thereof to reduce the total moisture level of the raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof by 25% to 60% thereby producing a partially dried product comprising about 75% or more moisture by weight;
- and
- cryogenically freezing the partially dried product to produce a frozen food product;
- wherein the cryogenically freezing provides a frozen food product that comprises a frozen food product with a crispness similar to a fresh product when the frozen product is thawed at ambient conditions.
A cryogenically frozen food product comprising a partially dried raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof that has been cryogenically frozen, wherein the cryogenically freezing provides a frozen food product that comprises a frozen food product with a crispness similar to a fresh product when the frozen product is thawed at ambient conditions and wherein the raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof comprised at least 90% moisture by weight before being partially dried and the raw fruit, raw vegetable or combination thereof comprises a reduced total moisture of between 25% and 60% after being partially dried wherein the partially dried product comprises about 75% or more moisture by weight.
A method for making a frozen food product comprising:
- obtaining an amount of a raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof, wherein the raw fruit or raw vegetable comprises at least about 90% moisture by weight;
- osmotically drying the raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof to reduce the total moisture level of the raw fruit, raw vegetable, or combination thereof by between 25% and 60% thereby producing a partially dried product comprising about 75% or more moisture by weight;
- and
- cryogenically freezing the partially dried product for about 1 minute or less to produce a frozen food product;
- wherein the cryogenically freezing provides a frozen food product that comprises a frozen food product with a crispness similar to a fresh product when the frozen product is thawed at ambient conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.