ABSTRACT
Dehydration, or drying, is one of the unit operations most commonly used for food preservation. Our ancestors, since prehistoric times, used it because it allowed them to obtain food products with a longer shelf life. As time went by, the demand for food increased because of larger populations. This higher food demand has impacted quite signicantly the relevance of preservation by drying. The development of the drying industry has been linked to foods to feed soldiers stationed in war zones around the world. Dehydration is useful for military purposes, as well as for the general public since it reduces the weight and size of foods. Advances achieved within the military eld have been transferred to the whole drying industry, yielding signicant advances to this very relevant unit operation within the food sector.
