Dehydrated Fruit (2024)

FAQs

Is dehydrated fruit good for you? ›

Dried fruit can boost your fiber and nutrient intake and supply your body with large amounts of antioxidants. However, they are also high in sugar and calories, and can cause problems when eaten in excess. For this reason, dried fruit should only be eaten in small amounts, preferably along with other nutritious foods.

Some fruits and vegetables suitable for drying include apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, celery, corn, green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes. Fruits can also be dried as fruit leathers and rolls.

Turn your dehydrator on immediately after loading to start the dehydration process. Check the owner's manual for recommended drying times but expect the process to take between eight and 12 hours on average. Check your fruits and vegetables frequently for dryness as you reach the end of the drying time.

Prunes provide fiber, GI regularity, and calcium to strengthen bones. Dates have been shown to assist with fertility and labor, are the most nutrient-dense of dried fruit options, and have a low GI index (so they don't affect blood sugar levels as intensely).

According to the US FDA, 40 g of dried fruit per day is the ideal quantity of dried fruit to consume per day.

Pretreating light-colored fruits before drying is important for the quality and safety of the final product. Soaking the sliced fruit in an acidic solution preserves the color and texture of the dried fruits, and it increases the destruction of potentially harmful bacteria during drying.

However, keep in mind that foods that are high in fat or oil do not dehydrate well, as the fat can go rancid. Therefore, avoid drying foods like peanut butter or avocados and be sure to trim meat to remove any fat before dehydrating.

Most dried fruits can be stored for 1 year at 60ºF, 6 months at 80ºF. Vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits. Dried foods kept in a good deep freezer can last almost indefinitely.”

Dehydrating fruit at home is a great way to preserve the nutrients and flavour of your favourite fruits. Not only is dehydrated fruit tasty but it's also full of essential vitamins and minerals that can help support healthy weight loss goals.

If your dehydrated food feels soft, spongy, or sticky it's probably not dehydrated enough. Put the product back in for additional time. Hard and crunchy or breakable pieces are done.

Can you put frozen fruit in a dehydrator? ›

You can dry frozen strawberry or cherry halves straight up, but I have found that tossing the cut fruit with a coating of sugar, and allowing the mixture to sit in the fridge for a day before putting the fruit in the dehydrator, vastly improves the overall quality of the dried fruit.

Freeze-dried food maintains most of its nutrients throughout the process, and once rehydrated, is very similar in nutritional value to its fresh counterpart. In contrast to dehydrated food where only around 60-75% of the original nutrients are retained. In freeze-dried food about 97% of the nutrients are retained.

Even though dried fruit contains vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, someone with diabetes should still be concerned about their blood glucose levels. Be mindful of portions, for 1 cup of dried fruit can increase blood glucose levels much more than 1 tablespoon can."

A 30g portion of dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs, counts as 1 of your 5 A Day, but should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a between-meal snack, to reduce the impact on teeth. Fruit and vegetables in convenience foods, such as ready meals and shop-bought pasta sauces, soups and puddings.

However, in the raw food scene, sun-drying has become established as the most natural way of drying (because initially, this was the first drying method), and therefore it is also accepted that some dried fruits have been exposed to temperatures more than 45°C. The dried fruit will still be considered as raw.