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Vegetables are available during specific seasons and they are perishable. Hence, majority of them are not available during off season. To overcome this problem, dehydration technique has been developed by which vegetables in dehydrated form are preserved for a longer period and are made available during off season. With this technology, certain high value and popular vegetables can be profitably sold. Dehydration technology is well established and proven. Certain products like green peas, cauliflower, carrots, spinach etc. command good prices during lean and off season. Drying preserves foods by removing enough moisture from food to prevent decay and spoilage. Water content of properly dried food varies from 5 to 25 percent depending on the food. When drying foods, the key is to remove moisture as quickly as possible at a temperature that does not seriously affect the flavor, texture and color of the food. Physical changes that may occur include: shrinkage, puffing, crystallization, glass transitions. In some cases, desirable or undesirable chemical or biochemical reactions may occur leading to changes in color, texture, odor or other properties of the solid product. Dehydration of vegetables by sun drying is the oldest known method. Now modern techniques have been developed for dehydration of vegetables. In this process, the dehydrated product has better flavour, colour, aroma, rehydration, acceptability, etc. in comparison to sundried dehydrated products.
Uses and Applications
The most popular applications of dehydrated vegetables are pizza and other fast food, snack foods, food service packs, stuffing mixes, pickled products, meat products, sea food products, gravies, canned foods, salad dressing, dips, bottle packs, pet food, rice mixes, soups, potato salad, seasoning, wet and dry salsa, specialty foods, curry powder, bakery topping, gourmet sauces, seasoning and in many other snacks or as ingredients. Pizza and other fast food, snack foods, food service packs, stuffing mixes, pickled products, meat products, sea food products, gravies, canned foods, salad dressing, dips, bottle packs, pet food, rice mixes, soups, potato salad, seasoning, wet and dry salsa, specialty foods, curry powder, bakery topping, gourmet sauces, seasoning and in many other snacks or as ingredients. Dehydrated vegetables can also be used to make powders by grinding dehydrated vegetable pieces in a food mill or blender. The powder can be used as flavoring agents, or add them as thickeners for soup and stew. Create your own instant soup mix from vegetable powders.
Market Survey
India is a prominent exporter of dried and preserved vegetables to the world. The world production of chilli crop sums up to around 7 million tons that is cultivated on approximately 1.5 million hectares of land. India is the world leader in context of chilli production followed by China and Pakistan. Owing to rich horticultural potential that exists in the country, the fruit and vegetable processing industry can play an important role in salvaging the wastage by utilizing small and sub grade fruits, help in stabilization of prices during the glut season, afford employment opportunity (as this industry is labour intensive), meet the requirements of defense forces in border areas, and last but not the least earn foreign exchange for the country. The present concentration of the processing units is near the concentrated centers of producing areas and near the consuming centers which are a major base for domestic market, or near the export areas/port towns, such units being, by and large export oriented. The food processing industry has been slated for accelerated growth. It is projected to be a futuristic industry and it is anticipated that, over the years, it will emerge as a leading player in the global markets. As a result, the industry is seen to be witnessing feverish activity.
Cost Estimation
Capacity
Dehydrated Chilli : 3.0
Dehydrated Onion : 4.0
Dehydrated Garlic : 5.3
Dehydrated Ginger : 4.3
Dehydrated Carrot : 3.3
Dehydrated Cabbage : 4.1
Dehydrated Capsicum : 3.6
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