Naturex Develops System to Take Fruits and Vegetables into Foods
The nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables are well known, but these foods are largely absent from the average consumer’s daily diet. Naturex offers a simple and original way to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into products.
Thanks to unique technology, Naturex is able to meet the expectations of the savory, sweet, and baby food industries by offering convenient and tasty fruit and vegetable powders. The group operates a 75 meter high structure known as the BIRS tower. This gigantic spray drying facility can create powders that offer clean label and maintain the organoleptic properties of original, freshly harvested fruits and vegetables.
The powder is instantly soluble when poured into hot or cold water. Thanks to the size and shape of its particles, the powder shows complete texture recovery without sedimentation. In a comparative study, the hot spray dried tomato powder settled to the bottom of the container after 4 minutes, while the cold spray dried powder processed in the BIRS tower continued to show an excellent homogenous suspension in the solution.
The organoleptic properties of the raw material are preserved and ready to delight gourmet palates. “Drying puree instead of juice makes the difference in terms of texture and mouthfeel. For example, the original fiber content of the apple is maintained throughout the process. When pouring into cold water, our apple powder can recreate unique and home-made style apple sauce without the use of thickener,” explains Frédéric Randet, business manager. The powder also has a deeper color when compared to those created using hot drying methods. The taste is fresh, intense, and maintains the authentic taste of the fruit or vegetable.
The technology of the BIRS tower, with its unique dimensions and gentle process (< 50°C), guarantees a slow and cold drying of the puree that is poured into the top of the structure. As a result, Naturex offers pure 100% fruit or vegetable powders, free from any carriers or additives.
To display these powders, Naturex is launching several informative videos and a dedicated page on its website.
