Pioneering food drying/cooking with maximal nutrient retention
Enhancing the longevity of foods while retaining their nutritional value and organoleptic properties (taste, texture, odour and appearance) is essential to reducing food waste, feeding a growing population and ensuring profitability. Air – or the oxygen in it – and moisture degrade products like foods and pharmaceuticals and promote the growth of bacteria, mould and yeast. Current vacuum packaging and drying methods to remove air and moisture consume tremendous amounts of energy and operate at high temperatures yet achieve uneven energy distribution. This results in low throughput efficiency and shortened shelf life. Equally importantly, the methods degrade the foods’ organoleptic and nutritional properties. The EIC-funded MILDTECH project has delivered four revolutionary, high-tech, AI-integrated food cooking and drying prototypes for domestic, commercial, and small- and large-scale industrial food processing needs. MILDTECH-dried foods look and taste almost like their fresh counterparts and can be produced faster, less expensively and with much less energy than with competing processes.
Microwave-assisted vacuum drying with two radio frequency bands
The MILDTECH system harnesses the microwave-assisted vacuum drying technology developed in the EU-funded predecessor project MILD-DRY. The solid state microwave (radio frequency or RF) system is the only one on the market that combines two frequency bands of solid-state energy with vacuum technology. Project coordinator Georgios Vanezi, CEO of MILDTECH, the company behind the project and technology, explains, “The RF solid-state technology with dual frequency bands enables better energy control, achieving small and large penetration depths, and makes it easier for the user to tailor operation.” It uses mild temperatures and processes materials faster and significantly more efficiently than conventional methods.
Industry 4.0: process analytical technology, machine learning and AI
MILDTECH is a leader in digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies. Its system incorporates a proprietary cloud-based, smart-control process analytical technology system to automate the cooking/drying process with pre-determined processing parameters for ease of use. The processing ‘recipes’ automatically process the materials based on the materials’ optimal parameters (temperature, time and frequency). Machine learning and AI constantly improve the process.
Unprecedented nutritional content
The team surpassed its goals with unprecedented efficiency. This enabled them to reduce the power of all four systems tremendously while still achieving higher throughput, reduced processing times and exceptional nutrient retention compared to competitors. For example, the power rating of the catering system went from targeted 30 kW to 2.5 kW and the small-scale food processing system from 50 kW to a mere 5 kW. According to Vanezi, “The most game-changing facet of our technology is how it maximises nutrient retention in foods. Current food processing methods use elevated temperatures that denature key enzymes, proteins, vitamins and nutrients. Our technology can cook and dry at very low temperatures (less than 30 ⁰C), maximising nutrient retention. It does this much faster (minutes compared to days) using up to 80 % less energy than other drying/cooking techniques.” MILDTECH has been recognised as a ground-breaking start-up by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Food (EIT Food), a pan-European organisation focused on building an innovative, inclusive and resilient food system. The company has already provided detailed quotes to companies from the food, nutraceutical, algae and materials markets. A drying/cooking revolution with broad-sweeping impact has begun.
Keywords
MILDTECH, food, cooking, nutrient retention, AI, machine learning, microwave-assisted vacuum drying, radio frequency, RF, Industry 4.0
