Dehydration of Fruits and vegetables or that of onion and garlic offer a value addition opportunity leading to extension of shelf life. The dried fruits and vegetables as well as onion and garlic are substituted for the actual commodity as well as growing innovations regarding technological applications is adding fuel to market growth. These products are highly used in the dairy, bakery industry as well as spice industry owing to their flavor enhancing-ability. On the other hand, owing to their nutritional value, these added as ingredients in dried fruits snacks and breakfast cereal.
Osmotic dehydration as well as Vacuum Dehydration is less energy intensive than air or microwave drying process because it can be conducted at low or ambient temperature and has potential advantages of maintaining the food quality as well as preserve the nutritive value of food.
In India, post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables are estimated to be as high as 25-30 %. Many processing techniques can thus be employed to preserve fruits and vegetables. The world fruit production is estimated to be 676.9 million MT and vegetables 879.2 million MT. India is world’s second largest fruit and vegetable producer with an annual fruit production of 86.602 million MT and vegetable production of 169.478 million MT.
The global market for dehydrated fruits and vegetable stands at US $ 30 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 7.5%. During Covid-19 Crisis , dehydration was the preferred choice of many entrepreneurs looking to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables due to supply chain disruption.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE ABOVE MENTIONED FIGURES AND INFORMATION IS TENTATIVE. AS DEHYDRATED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSULTANT, WE RECOMMEND TECHNO- ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY REPORT TO UNDERSTAND EXACT DETAILS TO THE ABOVE MENTIONED INFORMATION