Exploring conventional and emerging dehydration technologies for slurry/liquid food matrices and their impact on porosity of powders: A comprehensive review

Abstract

The contribution of dehydration to the growing market of food powders from slurry/liquid matrices is inevitable. To overcome the challenges posed by conventional drying technologies, several innovative approaches have emerged. However, industrial implementation is limited due to insufficient information on the best‐suited drying technologies for targeted products. Therefore, this review aimed to compare various conventional and emerging dehydration technologies (such as active freeze, supercritical, agitated thin‐film, and vortex chamber drying) based on their fundamental principles, potential applications, and limitations. Additionally, this article reviewed the effects of drying technologies on porosity, which greatly influence the solubility, rehydration, and stability of powder. The comparison between different drying technologies enables informed decision‐making in selecting the appropriate one. It was found that active freeze drying is effective in producing free‐flowing powders, unlike conventional freeze drying. Vortex chamber drying could be considered a viable alternative to spray drying, requiring a compact chamber than the large tower needed for spray drying. Freeze‐dried, spray freeze‐dried, and foam mat‐dried powders exhibit higher porosity than spray‐dried ones, whereas supercritical drying produces nano‐porous interconnected powders. Notably, several factors like glass transition temperature, drying technologies, particle aggregation, agglomeration, and sintering impact powder porosity. However, some binders, such as maltodextrin, sucrose, and lactose, could be applied in controlled agglomeration to enhance powder porosity. Further investigation on the effect of emerging technologies on powder properties and their commercial feasibility is required to discover their potential in liquid drying. Moreover, utilizing clean‐label drying ingredients like dietary fibers, derived from agricultural waste, presents promising opportunities.