Drying and Dehydration

Introduction
Drying refers to the method of removal of moisture content from the food to a level at
which the activities of food spoilage and food poisoning micro-organism are inhibited. Drying
under open sun is probably the oldest method of food preservation used for agricultural crops
including food grains, oilseeds as well as fruits and vegetables. Most of the fruits and
vegetables contain enough moisture to permit the activity of enzymes and micro-organisms for
spoilage and drying is necessary to reduce the water activity. Therefore, reduction in water
activity of the food is the main principle of preservation by drying. Two commonly used terms
for dried foods are low moisture foods and intermediate moisture foods (IMF). During drying,
a single layer of fruit and vegetables, either whole or sliced after primary pre-treatments is
spread on trays which are placed inside the dehydrator or in the open sun for drying. In
mechanical dehydrator, the initial temperature is generally kept at 43ºC which is then gradually
increased to 60-66ºC for vegetables and 66-71ºC for fruits.
 Dried foods or low moisture foods generally do not contain more than 25% moisture
and have a water activity (aw) in the range of 0 to 0.6.
 Intermediate moisture (IMF) foods on the other hand contain 15 - 50% moisture with a
water activity (aw) of 0.6 to 0.85.
 Drying under open sun is probably the oldest method of food preservation used for
agricultural crops including food grains, oilseeds as well as fruit and vegetables.
Dried grapes (raisins and munacca), apricot, dates, Morchella (Guchhi), bael, peas, chillies,
aonla, fig, etc are the commercial products prepared by drying. However, the temperatures used
for drying are usually insufficient to cause killing of micro-organisms and enzymes. Therefore,
any increase in moisture content during storage due to faulty packaging can spoil the product.
Thus greater care is required for packaging and storage of dried products.
Advantages of drying
1. Helps in food preservation by reduction in water activity.
2. Reduction in weight and volume of the food (weight or volume of the dried product is
reduced by 4 to 10 times from its initial fresh weight /volume).
3. Reduction in space requirement due to reduction in bulk and hence involves lower cost
of packaging, storage and transport.
4. In comparison to other methods, drying is the cheap and simplest method of
preservation.
5. Dried foods add variety to the diet and supply convenient ready to eat foods to the
consumers.
6. Nutrient concentration is very high per unit weight of dried product.
Drying v/s dehydration: Drying and dehydration are inter-related terms and are used
interchangeably to describe the unit operations involved in removal of water by evaporation or
sublimation. Drying generally refers to the method of removal of moisture from the food under
natural condition such as sunlight and wind such as open sun drying, shade drying etc.
Whereas, dehydration refers to a process of removal of moisture by application of artificial
heat under controlled conditions of temperatures, humidity and air flow

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Mechanism of drying: Drying or dehydration involves the simultaneous application of heat
and removal of water from the food. When hot air is blown over a wet food, the water vapour
diffuses through a boundary film of air surrounding the food and is carried away by the moving
air. A water vapour pressure gradient is established from the moist interior of the food to the
dry air which provides the driving force for water removal from the food. The boundary film
acts as a barrier to both heat transfer and water vapour removal during drying. The moving air
velocity determines the thickness of the boundary film. Water vapour leaves the surface of the
food and increase the humidity of the surrounding air, to cause reduction in the water vapour
pressure gradient which reduces the rate of drying. Therefore, the moving air should be faster
to reduce the thickness of boundary film and hence to achieve faster rate of drying. Hence, for
drying of moist horticultural produce the parameters taken into consideration are moderately
high dry bulb temperature, low relative humidity and high air velocity.
Drying curve: For each and every product, there is a representative curve that describes the
drying characteristics for that product at specific temperature, velocity and pressure conditions.
This curve is referred to as the drying curve for a specific product. Fig 10.1 shows a typical
drying curve. Drying occurs in three different periods or phases like the first phase or initial
period, the second phase or constant rate period and the third phase or falling rate period.

Advantage of dehydration over open sun drying:

1. The dehydration is much more rapid, controlled and efficient than open sun drying.
2. Dehydration requires less space (floor area) as compared to sun drying.
3. Dehydration is more hygienic as compared to open sun drying.
4. Dehydration is not dependant on weather conditions while drying is not possible under
cloudy weather or during rains.
5. The colour of dehydrated product remains uniform due to uniform drying temperature.

Factors affecting dehydration

Important factors affecting the rate of drying are:

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 1. Initial moisture content of the raw material
2. Composition of raw material
3. Initial load of the food kept in drier
4. Size, shape and arrangement of stacking of the raw material
5. Temperature, relative humidity and velocity of air used for drying
6. Rate of heat transfer on the surface of the food
7. Pre-treatment of the raw material prior to drying (peeling, blanching, sulphuring etc.)
During drying process the control of air temperature and its circulation in the system is
important. If temperature is too low and humidity is too high, the food will dry more slowly
and microbial growth may occur. Conversely, if the temperature is too high in the beginning,
a hard shell will develop on the surface of the food which will prevent the removal of moisture
from the interior portion of the fruit and moisture will trap inside the food material. This
condition is known as case hardening. Further, the temperature that is too high at the end of
drying period causes the food to scorch. Temperature between 49ºC to 60ºC is recommended
for drying of fruits and vegetables. Temperature up to 65ºC may be used at the beginning, but
should be lowered as food begins to dry. While, during the last hour of drying period, the
temperature should not exceed 55ºC.
Procedure for drying
Drying of fruit and vegetables generally involves three stages: pre-drying treatments,
drying and post drying handling, packaging and storage. Common flow-sheet consisting of
different unit operations for drying of fruits and vegetables is shown in Fig 10.2

1. Pre-drying treatments: Fruit and vegetables are selected and sorted according to size,
maturity and soundness. They are then washed in running water to remove dust, dirt, insects,
mould spores, plant parts, soils, debris and other materials that might contaminate or affect

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colour, aroma, flavour or taste of final product. Depending upon the type and quantity of
produce to be dried, any method of peeling can be selected like hand peeling, steam, hot water,
lye peeling or abrasive peeling. Fruits like grapes, plums, apricot are dipped in boiling caustic
soda (0.5% NaOH) for few seconds and immediately placed in cold water to remove the waxy
layer (grape, plum), pubescence (apricot, peach). After peeling and washing, the fruit and
vegetables are sliced or cut into desired size and thickness as it affects the rate of drying (grapes,
plums, apricots are dried whole).

2. Blanching: Generally all vegetables and mushrooms either whole or slices after preliminary
preparations are blanched in boiling water or under steam to pre-determined period followed
by immediate cooling to inactivate enzymatic activity prior to drying.

3. Sulphuring /Sulphiting: Majority of fruits are treated with sulphur dioxide by placing them
in an enclosed chamber in which sulphur (3 g/kg fruit) is burnt to allow the SO2 fumes to be
absorbed by the fruits. The process is called as sulphuring or sulphur fumigation. Sulphiting
on the other hand refers to dipping of prepared fruit or vegetables in a solution of potassium
meta-bi-sulphite to serve the same purpose as that of sulphuring. Sulphuring or sulphiting helps
to preserve colour, retard browning, reduces destruction of carotene and ascorbic acid besides
checking spoilage of the dried product.

2. DRYING METHODS
a) Sun Drying: It consists of spreading fruit/vegetable either on roof tops or floor for drying in
open sun. This method is limited to certain fruits such as raisins, figs, apricots, dates, peaches
and salted fish. After 10-12 days of drying the product is packaged in gunny bags/wooden
boxes and sent to market for local or distant sale. The moisture content is generally not lowered
below 15% which is too high for storage. The quality of product is inferior, characterized by
brownish outer appearance and contaminated with insect dirt/dust particles. The quality can be
improved by spreading the produce on black polythene sheet and covering it with thin muslin
cloth to avoid entry of insects, dust or dirt particles on to the product.
b) Solar drier: Solar drier is an inclined rectangular box of 1.8 x 0.9 x 0.3 cubic meters. The
internal dimensions made up of wood and lined internally with thermocol and tin sheets. Its
top is covered with a glass sheet and inner sides are painted black. The air inlets and outlets
(dampeners) are provided at the lower and upper ends to help in regulation of air flow and
temperature. On an average 20-30ºC higher temperature can be attained inside the dehydrator
as compared to ambient temperature. The loading capacity in solar drier of this size is 25-30
kg fresh fruit/vegetable spread on the trays each measuring 0.9 m× 0.45 m in size. Its
fabrication cost is 5,000 (app.).
c) Polytunnel solar drier/ polyhouse solar drier: The basic principle is similar to solar drier.
Polyhouse solar drier developed at Acharya N G Ranga Agriculture University, Baptla has a
capacity to dry about 22-24 quintals of ripe chilies. It consists of 12×7.8×2.4 m (40’x26’x8’)
size arch type polyhouse with 1600 sq ft as tray area. Thirty two trays of size 10’×5’×3
(L×B×H) each are used to load 22-24 quintals of ripe chillies. Whole frame structure is covered

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with a UV stabilized 150 Gsm cross laminated transparent polyethylene sheet with well crow
type ventilators at bottom and top of all three sides except on one side (north side) and two
chimney ventilators on the roof cover to facilitate removal of moist air. Two chimney
ventilators are placed on the top of the roof at a spacing of 4 meters. The height and diameter
of each chimney ventilator are 0.6 and 0.25 meters respectively. Generally, temperature of
about 15-17ºC higher than the ambient temperature can be obtained inside the drier.
Solar radiation is predominantly short wave radiation. The transmitted radiation through
polyethylene sheet becomes long wave radiation after absorption and cannot escape from the
polyethylene sheet thus leading to increase in temperature inside the drier. Covering of floor
with black polyethylene sheet helps to retain better heat. Drying takes place due to convective
movement of air caused by the difference in density of air inside the drier. The cold air enters
through bottom ‘well crow’ ventilators and gets heated due to higher temperature inside the
drier. The hot air moves through the bed of commodity being dried due to natural convection
and transports moisture through the top well crow ventilators and chimney ventilators. The cost
of drier is approximately Rs 1.20 lakh.
4. Dehydration equipment
A. Hot air Driers: In hot air driers the food is in contact with a moving stream of hot air. Heat
is supplied to the product mainly by convection. Kiln drier, cabinet tray drier, tunnel drier,
conveyor drier, bin drier, fluidized bed drier, pneumatic drier, rotary drier and spray drier use
hot air for drying of fruits and vegetables.
1) Kiln drier: These are mainly used for hops, apple rings and slices and malt drying. It
consists of two storeys with a furnace or burner located on the ground floor and wet material
placed on the top floor. The heated air from the furnace rises by natural or forced convection
and passes through the slotted floor of the second storey, on which the wet material is spread
in an even layer of 10-20 cm. The humidified air is exhausted through a flue in the upper story.
However, in kiln drier there is limited control over drying condition and drying time is longer.
Besides, regular turning of product is necessary.
2) Cabinet (tray) drier: In tray driers the wet food is spread evenly/thinly on trays in which
drying takes place. These consist of an insulated cabinet fitted with shallow mesh or perforated
trays, each of which contains a thin (2-6 cm deep) layer of food. Hot air is circulated through
the cabinet at 0.5- 5 m/s per square meter tray area. Ducts or baffles are used to direct hot air
through each tray, to promote uniform air distribution. Heating is by conduction from heated
trays or by radiation from heated surface. The heated air also removes the vapours. Tray driers
are used for small scale production (1-20 t/day) or for pilot scale work. They have low capital
and maintenance costs but have poor control and more variable product quality.

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3) Conveyor drier (Belt drier): These are similar to tunnel drier, but the wet material is
conveyed on moving belts rather than trucks. Continuous conveyer driers are up to 20 m long
and 3 m wide. Food is dried on the belt in beds of 5-15 cm deep. The air flow is initially upward
through the bed of food and then downwards in later stages to prevent dried food from blowing
out of the bed. There can be 2 or 3 stage driers in which the food is mixed, re-piled into deeper

beds (15-25 cm in two stages and up to 250-900 cm in third stage). Major factors of conveyor
driers are:
1. It improves uniformity of drying and saves floor space.
2. Food is dried up to 10-15 % moisture contents and finished in bin driers.
3. This equipment has good control over drying conditions and offers high production
rates.
4. Can be used for large scale drying of foods (fruit and vegetable dried in 2.0-3.5 hours
with a capacity up to 5.5 t/h).
5. Reduces labour costs, since it has independently controlled drying zones and is
automatically loaded and unloaded.
6. Offers good replacement for tunnel driers.
4) Tunnel drier: It is the improvement of tray drier, in which trays move through a tunnel
where heat is applied and vapours are removed. In most cases, air is used in tunnel drying and
the material can move through the drier either parallel or counter current to the air flow.
Typically a 24 m long tunnel contains 12-15 racks with total capacity of 5000 kg of food. The
time taken for drying is 5-16 hrs.

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a) Parallel or co-current air flow: In this arrangement wet product as well as hot air moves
in the same direction.
Advantages
 High rates of evaporation at the wet end without over heating of the material.
 Rapid initial drying.
 Little shrinkage of food
 Low bulk density
 Less heat damage to food.
 No risk of spoilage, since moisture content is removed at once.
Limitations
 Low moisture content in the finished product is difficult to achieve as cool moist air
passes over dry food at the outlet.
b) Counter current type: As such, relatively low initial rates of drying at the wet end are
achieved. This causes high shrinkage of cellular material.
Advantages
 More economical use of energy.
 Low final moisture content can be achieved as hot air passes over dry food at the
outlet.
Limitations
 Relatively low initial rates of drying at the wet end.
 Causes high shrinkage of cellular material.
 Possible risk of heat damage to the product due to the heat at dry end.
 Long exposure of food to a warm moist atmosphere and may lead to shrinkage.
 Two or more tunnels can be used in series.
c) Central exhaust tunnel drier: In this both features of co-current and counter current flow
are combined.
Advantages: Combined benefits of parallel and counter current driers, but less than cross flow
driers.
Limitations: More complex and expensive than single direction air flow.
d) Cross flow tunnel drier: In this arrangement the hot air is introduced at different
compartments of wet food, thus the rate of drying is uniform.
Advantages
 Flexible control of drying conditions due to air heating facility between stages.
 Uniform drying due to frequent changes in direction of hot air.
 High drying rates.
Limitations: More complex and expensive to buy and difficult to operate and maintain.

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5). Foam mat drying: In this the liquid foods (fruit juices) are formed into stable foam by the
addition of a stabilizer and aeration with nitrogen or air. For drying of lemon juice, carboxy
methyl cellulose (CMC) can be mixed with juice to convert into foam. The foam is spread on
a perforated belt to a depth of 2-3 mm and dried rapidly in two stages by parallel and thin
counter current air flows. Foam mat drying is about three times faster than drying a similar
thickness of liquid owing to thin surface area. The thin foam mat of dried food is ground to a
free flowing powder which has good rehydration properties. The rapid drying and low product
temperature give rise to high quality product.
Limitation: Large surface area is required for high production rates and capital costs are high.
6). Bin drier (Deep bed drier): Bin driers are used for final drying of dried food material.
They are provided with cylindrical or rectangular containers fitted with mesh (false bottom).
Hot air passes up through a bed of food at relatively low speed 0.5 ms-1 per square meter of
bin area. In bin drier, the food stuff is contained in a bin with perforated bottom through which
warm air is blown vertically upwards, passing through the material and drying it. Bin driers are
also used for equalization of moisture content within the bulk of dried food material.

Advantages
 These driers have a high capacity and low capital and running costs.
 Bin driers improve the operating capacity of initial driers by taking the food when it is
in falling rate period, when moisture removed is most time consuming.
 The deep bed permits equalization of varied moisture content in different layers of food.
7). Fluidized bed drier: Heated air is forced up through a bed of solids under such conditions
that the solids are suspended in to the air. The heated air acts both a fluidizing and drying
medium. Some units have vibrating bases to assist movement of the product. The drier may be
batch or continuous type. The drier is used successfully for drying of peas, beans, carrots,
cocoa, coffee etc. In some cases, dust separators (cyclones) are included in the exhaust air line
to remove fumes.
Advantages
 Fluidized bed driers are compact and have good control over drying conditions.
 They provide high thermal efficiencies and high drying rates.
 Since product is mixed by fluidization, it leads to uniform drying.
 Fluidized bed driers are limited to small particulate foods that are capable of being
fluidized without excessive mechanical damage.

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8). Pneumatic drier: It is the extension of fluidized bed drier where higher air velocities are
used. In this, the solid food particles are conveyed rapidly in an air steam, the velocity and
turbulence of the air maintain the particles in suspension. Heated air accomplishes the drying
and often classifying device is included in the equipment. The dry matter passes out as product
and the moist product is recirculated for further drying.
In pneumatic driers, powders or particulate foods are continuously dried in vertical or
horizontal metal ducts. A cyclone separator is used to remove the dried product. The moist
food (less than 40% moisture content) is placed into the ducting and suspended in hot air. In
vertical driers, the air flow is adjusted to classify the particles; lighter and smaller particles,
which dry more rapidly, are carried to a cyclone more rapidly than are heavier and wetter
particles which remain suspended to receive additional drying required.

9) Rotary drier: In rotary drier, slightly inclined rotating cylinder is fitted internally with
flights to cause the food to move through a stream of hot air as it moves through the drier. Air
flow may be parallel or counter current.
The food stuff is contained in a horizontally inclined cylinder through which it travels.
The heating is done either by air flow through the cylinder or by conduction of the heat from
the cylinder walls. In some cases, the cylinder rotates and in others the cylinder is stationary

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and the paddle or screw rotates through the cylinder conveying the material. The drier is used
for drying of sugar crystals and cocoa beans.

Advantages
 The agitation of the food and the large area of food exposed to the air produce high
drying rates and uniformly dried product.
 The drier is suitable for the products that tend to mat or stick on the belt or tray driers.
Limitations
 It may cause damage to the product by impact or abrasion in the drier.
10). Trough drier (belt-trough drier): Small, uniform pieces of food like peas and other dried
vegetable are dried in a mesh conveyor belt which hangs freely between rollers, to form the
shape of trough. Hot air is blown through the bed of food, and the movement of conveyor mixes
and turns it to bring new surfaces continually into contact with the drying air. The mixing action
moves food away from the drying air and then allows time for moisture to move from the
interior of the pieces to dry the surface. The moisture is then rapidly evaporated when the food
again contacts the hot air. The drier operates in two stages to 50-60 % moisture and then to 15-
20 % moisture content. Final finishing of dried product is carried out in bin driers.

Advantages
 These driers have high drying rates (55 minutes for dried vegetable compared to 5 hours
in a tunnel drier).
 High energy efficiencies with good control over drying conditions.

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  Minimum heat damage to the product.
Limitation: Not suitable for sticky foods.
11). Spray driers: A fine dispersion of pre-concentrated food is first “atomized” (sprayed) to
form droplets (10-200 µm in diameter) which are sprayed into the drying chamber at a
temperature of 150-300°C of heated air. The feed rate is controlled to produce an outlet air
temperature of 90-100°C, which corresponds to a wet-bulb and product temperature of 40-
500C. Very short drying time and relatively low product temperature are the main features of
spray driers. The main components of a spray drier include:
 Air heating and circulating system
 A spray forming system comprising of pressure nozzle, centrifugal atomizer and bowl
nozzle
 A drying chamber
 Cyclone separator for product recovery (2 cyclones, scrubber with cloth filter)
For successful drying, complete and uniform atomization is necessary. Different types of
atomizers are centrifugal atomizer, pressure nozzle atomizer, two fluid nozzle atomizer and
ultrasonic atomizer.

Advantages:
 Due to very large surface area of the droplets, the drying is very rapid (1-10 s)
 The temperature of the product remains at the wet bulb temperature of the drying air.
 There is minimum heat damage to the food.
In spray drier, liquid or fine solid material in slurry form is sprayed in the form of fine
dispersion into a current of heated air. Drying occurs very rapidly, thus this process is very
useful for foods that suffer heat damage on long exposures. Spray driers are mostly used for
milk, egg, coffee, cocoa, tea, potato, ground chicken, ice cream mix, butter, cream, yoghurt,
cheese powder, coffee whitener, fruit juices, meat, encapsulated flavours, wheat and corn starch
products.

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 B). Heated surface driers: Unlike hot air driers, the heat in heat surface driers is supplied
to the food by conduction, thus resulting in higher thermal efficiency.
Advantages:
 It is not necessary to heat large volumes of air before drying commences.
 Drying can be carried out in absence of oxygen to protect foods that are sensitive to
oxidation.
 Heat consumption is less than that of hot air driers. Heated surface drier utilize 2000 –
3000 kJ energy per kg of water evaporated while in hot air driers it is about 4000-10,000
kJ energy per kg of water evaporated.
Limitations: Since, foods have low thermal conductivities, which become further lower as
the food dries. Therefore, the thin layer of food is required to conduct heat rapidly without
causing heat damage.
Types of Heated Surface driers
1). Vacuum drum drier: Vacuum drum drier is the same except that they operate under a
vacuum and heat transfer is by conduction or by radiation. The rollers are enclosed in a large
cabinet which is evacuated. Vacuum drum driers are used for drying of potato flakes, dry soup
and fruit juices.
2). Drum drier (Roller drier): In drum drier, slowly rotating hollow steel drums are heated
internally by pressurized steam to 120-170°C. A thin layer of food is uniformly placed over the
outer surface of drum either by dipping, spraying, or spreading by feed rollers. Before the drum
completes one revolution (within 20 seconds to 3 minutes) the dried food is scrapped off by a
‘doctor’ blade which contacts the drum surface uniformly along its length. Driers may have
single drum, or double drum (twin drums). Drum driers are used for drying of milk powder.

Specific features of drum driers include:

 High drying rates with high energy efficiencies and their suitability for slurries where
particles are too large for spraying.
 Heat damage to sensitive foods and high capital cost are the major limitations of such
driers.
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3). Vacuum shelf drier: Vacuum shelf driers consist of hollow shelves in a vacuum chamber.
Food is placed in thin layers on flat metal trays which are carefully made to ensure good contact
with the shelves. A partial vacuum of 1-70 torr (1.3 kPa to 93.3 kPa) is drawn in the chamber
and steam or hot water is passed through the shelves to dry the food. They are used to produce
puff dried foods.
Advantages
 It gives rapid drying and limited heat damage
 Suitable for heat sensitive foods.
Limitations: Relatively high capital and operating costs and low production rates.
4). Explosion puff drying: It involves partially drying of foods to moderate moisture content
and then sealing it into a pressure chamber. The pressure and temperature in the chamber are
increased and instantly released. The rapid loss of pressure causes the food to expand and
develop a fine porous structure. It allows faster final drying and rapid rehydration. Sensory and
nutritional qualities are well retained in this type of drying.
5). Freeze drying: Freeze drying is the sublimation/removal of water content from frozen food.
The dehydration occurs under a vacuum, with the food product solidly frozen during the
process. In the process of freeze drying, the food is first frozen at -18°C in the lower chamber
of a freeze drier and then the frozen material is dried initially at 30°C for 24 hrs then at 20°C
until complete drying under high vacuum (0.1 mm Hg) in the upper chamber. The final product
is highly hygroscopic, excellent in taste and flavour. Mango pulp, concentrates, passion fruit
juice and guava pulp are dehydrated by this method and give freeze-dried powders of excellent
quality for taste, flavour and reconstitution property.
Freeze dryer utilizes the principle that under high vacuum (27-133 Pa pressure) frozen water
can be removed from a food and collected without going through a liquid phase. Because the
material remains frozen, no heat damage occurs. The material is directly dried by sublimation
of ice without passing through intermediate liquid phase.

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6) Osmotic dehydration
The fruit which are highly acidic and have sensitive aroma can be dried by using osmotic
dehydration. In this method the fruits after preliminary treatment are placed in hypertonic
solution of 70°B sugar syrup and kept for 4 hrs to overnight. During this period, the water oozes
out in syrup due to osmosis. About 50% of moisture from the fruit is removed in can process.
The fruits are then drained from the syrup, rinsed and further dried in hot air drier to desired
moisture content. During osmotic drying, acid from the fruit oozes out in the syrup while some
sugar enters in the fruit thus the final product attains the required sugar acid balance. Apricots,
grapes, apple etc. can be dried by using osmotic drying.
Packaging and storage of dried products
After foods are dried, cool them completely. Then packaging is done in clean moisture-
vapor-resistant containers. Glass jars, metal cans or freezer containers are good storage
containers, if they have tight-fitting lids. Fruit that has been sulfured or sulfited should not
touch metal. Place the fruit in a plastic bag before storing it in a metal can. Dried food should
be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. Most dried fruits can be stored for 1 year at 60°F, 6 months
at 80°F. Dried vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits. Polypropylene (PP), laminate
of metallised polyester (PET), low density polyethylene (LDPE) is suitable for a shelf-life of
at least 6 months.
Different types of packaging materials used are:
1. Rigid containers like metal cans and plastic containers, which are air-tight and light
proof and check the entry of moisture and oxygen. They are easy to handle during
transportation.
2. Semi-rigid packs, like line carton and bag-in-box, maintains the freshness of the food
product till it is opened. An ideal laminate is made up of layers of paper/low density
polyethylene (LDPE)/Al-foil/ which ensures the shelf life required.
3. Flexible pouches can be handled and opened easily.

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