To accomplish this is not simple. Heat and mass transport phenomena may have profound effects on the quality of dehydrated foods. Texture structure, appearance, color, flavor, taste and nutritional value are all subject to change as a result of the drying process.
Volatile components, responsible for food flavor, may be volatiles and lost. Easily oxidizable materials may undergo a drastic oxidation, catalyzed by the heat required for drying, with the production of obnoxious off-flavors or substances which will undergo deterioration in storage.
L.G Menting in 1970 found that diffusion coefficients of volatile compounds in maltodextrin were dependent on water content and on the size of the diffusions, which was suggested to affect flavor retention in dehydration process. Menting studied retention of volatile components in drying of liquid foods (International Journal of Food Science & Technology Volume 5, Issue 2, pages 111–126, June 1970).
Complete prevention of flavor loss has as yet proven virtually impossible and so methods of trapping and condensing the evolved vapors from the drier and adding them back to the dried product are sometimes employed.
Effect of drying process on food flavor
