A report has been published on IFL entitled Freeze-drying of seafood: an exploration of possibilities, where the results of a development project carried out last year at IFL are published. The aim was to investigate the possibility of production and sale of lyophilized products from Icelandic seafood.
In June 2005, a new lyophilizer was installed, Genesis 25 SQ EL, at IFL, but it was bought, among other things, to explore the possibility of producing high-quality seafood products for use in all kinds of special diets, supplements and target foods.
Freeze-drying is a process in which water is removed from a frozen product by evaporation and underpressure. This method is superior to other drying methods in that it better preserves the taste, color, bioactivity and other properties of delicate products. Freeze-drying has mainly been used to preserve delicate products such as various berries, but the most well-known freeze-dried product is instant coffee.
Freeze-drying of delicate products such as fish proteins better preserves their properties. This is especially important in research and production of bioactive peptides, but research in this field is precisely one of IFL's focus areas.
It was The AVS Fund who supported the project, but the authors of the report are Guðjón Gunnarsson, Irek Klonowski and Guðjón Þorkelsson. Project manager was Guðjón Þorkelsson, head of IFL's Processing and Development department (tel: 8604748)
The report Freeze-drying of seafood: an exploration of possibilities