Spray-Drying Food in Guatemala

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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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