SCIENTIFIC DEHYDRATION

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4482, 20 October 1922, Page 4

SCIENTIFIC DEHYDRATION

APPLICATION TO VEGEIAiBLESi AND FRUIT.

A 'matter that is engaging the attention of many producers in the Dominion at the present time is thel subject of dried produce, illustrating the latest developments of. the idea in what is known as dehydration. At the Auckland Rotary Club’s luncheon the other day Mr J.. H, Morton referred to the historical aspect of the subject, pointing out how the old industries of flg, date, and hop drying had slipped into a backwash. The drying of vegetables was illustrated by reference to the fact that some of the dried potatoes of Sir Benjamin Franklin’s old polar depots were found to be usable after over 60’ years of storage. After giving, historical examples, lie explained drying h,ad been developeani recent years, sd that fruity vegetables, and other products, even meat, could be dried to keep for an indefinite period, and subsequently restored to their original condition by simple immersion in water. Th|e significance bf the dehydration industry to a producing country like New Zealand was de,alt ,with, by the speaker, who exhibited practical examples of dehydrated vegetables, whidhi had been restored to original condition. Dehydration, he explained, nowadays meant the use of a scientific mechanical process, by machines, which, had been developed to control the drying with absolute accuracy ,at a low coni 1 - mercial cost. It did not refer, he said, to the Old • Haphazard drying ovens, and he prophesied that the process would cause as great a development in the general farm produce export in New Zealand as had arisen in the past quarter century in the New Zealand butter market.

This Mr H. A. SomeijvbU showed us’ .a piece of carrot that had K ' undergone the treatment. It then looked like a crushed straw about an inch in length, This was placed in a glass of water, and in a short while developed to its original size. Other samples have also been given by Mr Somervell. One in particular was a tiny piece of onipn, and this, when treated in the same way, was soon looking as fresh as it did before it had been treated.