Esquire Biotech

Esquire Biotech, an ISO 9001:2015 company based at Chennai is one of the leading freeze dryer machine manufacturer in India.

The product range includes:

• Laboratory freeze dryer
• Batch/pilot freeze dryer (Lyophilizer)
• Small production freeze dryer
• Industrial food freeze dryer
• Pharmaceutical freeze dryer
• Production freeze dryer
• Probe sonicator
• Sterile blender for food microbiology
• Lab water purification system
• UV Vis Spectro Photometer
• Ice machines
• Sample freeze drying

APPLICATIONS

Industrial food freeze dryer

• Finished food freeze dryer
• Strawberry Freeze Dryer Machine
• Waxberry Freeze Dryer Machine
• Sea Cucumber Freeze Dryer Machine
• Green Tea Freeze Dryer Machine
• Scallion Freeze Dryer Machine
• Soup Freeze Dryer Machine
• Vegetable Freeze Dryer Machine
• Raspberry Freeze Dryer

Laboratory freeze dryer

• Desktop Model
• Floor Model
• Small Shelf type

Production Freeze Dryer

Capacities: 10/20/30/50/100/300/400/500/1000/1500/2000 kgs

Probe Sonicator

• For Nano Particle Dispersion
• For Cell Lysis
• For Industrial Sonication

Lab water purification system

• Molecular™ Molresearch Series System
• Molecular™ Molatom Series System
• Molecular™ Molelement Series System
• Molecular™ Molgene Series System
• Molecular™ Molro Series System

Ice machines

• Small ice machine
• Industrial Ice machine

Esquire Biotech Freeze dryer machine manufacturer in India

Plot No. 3, Door No. 1/150,
Kamakshi Nagar, Mugalivakkam,
Chennai – 600125,
Tamil Nadu, India.

Mr. A. Sivasankar (Director-Marketing)
044 – 22521694
+91 – 9444451398

esquirebiotech@gmail.com

www.esquirebiotech.in
www.esquirebiotech.com
www.lyophiliser.com

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Freeze Drying Process

The ultimate aim of food preservation is to prevent it from spoiling. Spoiling can be due to either the microbial growth or due to fats turning rancid. There are number of techniques used for preservation of food such as canning, pickling, drying, freeze drying, irradiation, pasteurization and many more. Drying is the ancient method for food preservation which refers to the removal of moisture from food product. Conventional drying which used hot air often leads to loss in the sensory characteristics as well as nutritional qualities. There comes in the picture freeze drying and let’s read further about Freeze Drying Process.

Freeze Drying Definition:

Lyophilisation or freeze drying is a process in which water is frozen followed by its removal from the sample initially by sublimation (primary drying) and then by sublimation (desorption). Since heat is not applied in this case, both nutritional qualities and sensory characteristics are better retained. Freeze drying has similar preservative effect by reduction in water activity without heat application.

Principle

The water vapor pressure of a food is held below 4.58 Torr (610.5 Pa) and water is frozen. When the food is heated solid ice sublimes into vapor without melting. The pressure in food dried cabinet is below the vapor pressure at the surface of ice and the vacuum pump present in the cabinet removes the vapor and lets it condense on refrigeration coils. Food products are dried in 2 stages: first by sublimation to 15% moisture content and then by evaporative drying (desorption) of unfrozen water to 2% moisture content. The rate of drying depends on resistance of the food to heat transfer and to a lesser extent on resistance to vapor flow from sublimation.

Properties of Freeze Dried Food Products

• The moisture content of freeze dried food product is below 3%.Freeze dried product is lighter in volume/weight.
• There is very good retention of volatile flavour and aroma components with the process.
• Freeze drying causes very little change in chemical components of food. There is a very minute difference in the nutritive value of fresh food and freeze dried food product.

Freeze Drying Process (Esquire Biotech: Freeze dryer machine manufacturer)

Freezing – It is most critical process in whole freeze drying process. The product to be freeze dried is cooled below its triple point (lowest temperature at which liquid and solid phases of product coexist) which ensures the sublimation. Freezing is done rapidly in order to lower the material to its eutectic point quickly to avoid the formation of ice crystals. Generally the freezing temperature is between -50 to -80 degree Celsius. In the lab, it is often done by placing the product to be frozen in freeze drying flasks and the flasks are rotated in a bath called shell freezer which is cooled by mechanical refrigeration, dry ice and methanol or liquid nitrogen.

Primary Drying (Sublimation) – In this process temperature and pressure should be below the triple point of water, i.e, 0.0098 degree Celsius and 4.58 m of Hg. So, in this process pressure is lowered and enough heat is supplied for the water to sublimate. The heat supplied is latent heat of sublimation. In this process moisture is removes unto 98-99%.Pressure is controlled by applying partial vacuum. The condenser plates resolidifies the water vapor into ice. Driving force for sublimation is vapor pressure difference between the evaporating surface and the condenser.

Secondary Drying (Desorption) – It aims to remove unfrozen water molecules which could not be able to convert in ice and sublime. In this process temperature is raised higher, around 50 degree Celsius to break all physico-chemical interactions (to remove bound water) that have formed between water molecules and frozen material. Generally, Pressure is kept lowered to around 50 mm of Hg. Rate of secondary drying is slow and it takes around 10-12 hours.

Packing – After drying, vacuum is replaced by filtered dry air or any inert gas such as nitrogen to establish atmospheric pressure. At the end of all these operations moisture content reaches 0.5%-4%.

Basic Components of Freeze Drying (Esquire Biotech: Freeze dryer machine manufacturer)

Freeze Drying Chamber – It contains the trays to hold the food during drying and heaters to supply latent heat of sublimation.
Refrigerated Condenser – A condenser is a pipe coil system which condenses all the vapors from the product. The sublimated ice is accumulated in condenser and is manually removed at the end of the operation. In lab scale, the condenser is cooled by means of carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen .The refrigeration system should be able to maintain temperature of condenser substantially below temperature of product.

Refrigeration Unit – During the freeze drying process, water contained in the material passes 3 stages. The product should be cooled, frozen and subjected to sublimation. During this stage, heat must be applied to product to compensate for the sublimation.

Vacuum Pump-It sucks all the air present in freeze drying chamber and maintains vacuum inside it.

Advantages of Freeze Drying:

• Since the water is removed from the food product it becomes very light and hence becomes easy for transportation (portable).
• The products do not require refrigeration. Hence can last for months or years.
• Thermolabile food products can easily be dried.
• Nutritional qualities and sensory characteristics of freeze dried product is retained.

Disadvantages of Freeze Drying:

• The food product is prone to oxidation, due to high porosity and large surface area. Hence the product is packed in vacuum or in inert gas.
• Freeze dried food products are quite expensive due to specialized equipment needed for this process.

Shelf Life of Freeze Dried Foods | How Long Does Freeze Dried Food Last?

Since, the moisture present in freeze dried products is upto 2-3% , therefore, these products can be stored for much longer period of time. In case of freeze dried fruits and vegetables it can be stored upto 25 years and freeze dried meat and meat products can lasts for several months simply dehydrated fruits and vegetables can last for almost 15 years.

Food types suitable for freeze drying

Coffee
Fruits and juice
Vegetables
Meat
Fish and seafood
Eggs
Dairy
Small fruits and vegetables can easily be freeze dried whereas whole fruits and whole vegetables would not be suitable. It also applies to meat products, large meat pieces are difficult to freeze dry whereas small meat chunks can be dried very well.

Reference: https://discoverfoodtech.com/freeze-drying-process-with-flow-chart/