Crispy dried watermelon, Which drying method is most effective?

Watermelon, tomatoes, durian, dragon fruit… are fruits with similar textures: watery, soft, low in fiber, and easily deformed. Therefore, drying them while preserving their natural shape is not easy. Currently, these types of products can only be dried using freeze-drying machines to ensure good quality. Let’s explore the characteristics and uses of crispy dried watermelon.

 

Watermelon and tomatoes are characterized by their high water content, with 98% of their mass being water and the remainder being a fine powder with little fiber. Therefore, producing crispy dried watermelon or dried tomatoes that retain their original shape is extremely difficult without advanced drying equipment. While we don’t typically use these types of dried products, many applications require powdered products. Along with watermelon and tomatoes, durian, dragon fruit, ripe mangoes, strawberries, kiwi, some types of mushrooms, spirulina powder, and probiotics are also difficult to dry using either hot or cold drying methods.

There are many types of fruit dryers available today, depending on the drying requirements such as drying fruits for detox, making chewy dried fruits, or drying fruits without needing to maintain their shape. Using hot or cold drying is very effective. Common products such as fruit detox drinks, chewy dried fruits, dried vegetables, dried bamboo shoots, dried hawthorn berries, dried meat and fish, etc., should only be dried using conventional methods to ensure good profitability.

Fruit powders have many practical applications, such as in baking, fast food, fruit drinks, nutritious porridge, confectionery, and food coloring. Crispy dried watermelon powder is fine and can be easily crumbled by hand without the need for a grinder; however, using a grinder will produce a more airy and evenly fine powder.

The video above shows freeze-dried tomatoes. The tomato slices retain their original shape after drying, the color remains unchanged, and the texture is a fine powder that crumbles easily when gently squeezed – these are the common characteristics of freeze-dried fruits.

Freeze dryers, also known as freeze dryers, are advanced drying equipment currently available. They operate on a special principle: the product is completely frozen before drying. The drying temperature ranges from -30°C to 30°C, and the drying chamber is completely vacuumed. The ice in the product sublimes into water vapor, which is then condensed at the condenser coil at a very cold temperature of -45°C before being drawn in by a vacuum pump.

Through the basic information above, readers have gained a better understanding of crispy dried watermelon products. Customers are encouraged to contact Mactech for further advice on dried fruits and suitable drying machines. Thank you for reading this information.