March 19, 2024

Irkaimboeuf

Food never sleeps.

Lyophilized products: everything you need to know

2 min read

Benefits of lyophilization and how to validate your aseptic process | BSM

Lyophilized products are made by using the freeze-drying or lyophilization method. Lyophilization is a special method of drying various materials and products that eliminates all moisture and tends to have less effect on a material‘s physical structure than normal dehydration makes. In other words, freeze-drying is a water elimination process typically done to store perishable materials more conveniently to extend their shelf life. Freeze-drying or lyophilization consists of three phases. The freezing phase involves fast freezing, then increasing the product temperature to allow the crystals to grow. The primary drying or sublimation phase requires reducing the pressure and adding heat to the product for the water to sublimate. In this phase, almost all water is removed from the product. The secondary drying or adsorption phase requires raising the temperature higher than in the primary drying phase to break ionic bonds broken among the material and the water molecules.  Freeze-dried products maintain a porous structure. Because the cell structure of the product remains intact, freeze-dried products retain the original shape, quality, structural integrity, color, nutrients, and other features of fresh or raw products or materials. Common applications of lyophilization include biological, biomedical, food processing, and preservation. For instance, lyophilized products in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals include injectable solutions, proteins, vaccines, hormones, plasma, proteins, antibiotics, microbiological samples, viruses, bacteria, antibodies, etc. Lyophilized products in the food industry include coffee, fruit, juice, vegetables,  food flavorings, fish, eggs, noodles, soups, dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, etc. Find more about lyophilized products on super-garden.com.