The preparation of quick-cooking dehydrated vegetables by high temperature short time pneumatic drying

The technique of high temperature short time (HTST) pneumatic drying, when applied to a variety of vegetables as a pre-treatment prior to conventional modes of hot air drying, brought about porosity in the products and resulted in considerable reduction in their drying and rehydration times with improvements in texture and other rehydration characteristics. The HTST dried vegetables had lower bulk density and superior rehydration characteristics. A starchy cell structure was essential for satisfactory expansion by the technique and low starch vegetables failed to expand.