Spray-Drying Food in Guatemala
The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program provides support to
several countries around the world, establishing different strategies in each
one of them. In Guatemala, one of the strategies that the F2F program is
working on during the 2018-2023 cycle is Rural Enterprise Development, with the
objective of enhancing the development, application, and expansion of
commercial and technical agricultural capacities for smallholder farmers and
agribusinesses to generate sustainable economic growth.
One of the hosts that F2F is supporting is Corporación ARSO
“Lafinita Brand”, which has its processing plant in Quetzaltenango. They grow rambutan, mangosteen, papaya, lime, coconut and pineapple. Recently, due to
changes in demand, the company decided to investigate the processing of
these products for shelf stability. As a result of initial market
research and attending nutraceutical ingredient fairs, the company decided
to implement the spray drying technology to offer diversified tropical
fruit powders and, in the long-term, dried vegetables.
Spray drying is a very specific method of producing a dry powder
from a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying it with a hot gas. F2F wanted
to support Corporación ARSO in this process and therefore, the chosen volunteer
was Kevin Mis Solval. Dr. Mis Solval has a Ph.D. in Food Engineering
(Biological and Agricultural Engineering) from Lousiana State University and is
currently an Assistant Professor of Food Process Engineering in the Department
of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. He has used spray
drying for more than ten years, and coincidentally, is originally from
Guatemala.
Kevin decided to take this F2F volunteer assignment because
he is passionate about increasing the competitiveness of farmers and food
entrepreneurs across the nation and world through Extension and Outreach
programs. During his assignment in January and
February of 2020, Dr. Mis Solval successfully
assisted Corporación ARSO on: 1) understanding the research and
development process of developing spray-dried food powders, 2) training personnel
on best practices for running spray drying operations for the production of
food ingredients, 3) developing spray-dried food ingredients from
locally-sourced fruit commodities; and 4) developing applications in
beverages for the newly developed spray-dried food ingredients.
Three
main food ingredients were successfully spray dried: coconut
water, lime and papaya. The products developed were evaluated as ingredients in
plain yogurt, smoothies and beverage mixes with excellent results. The
assistance provided by Dr. Mis Solval through the F2F program will
allow Corporacion ARSO to accelerate the development of new food
ingredients using the spray drying technology; improving its competitiveness
and resilience in the high-value, non-traditional horticulture sector. At the
end of the assignment, Dr. Mis Solval was very excited and grateful
for being selected for this assignment where he had the opportunity to use his
expertise.
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