NWGD Event 23 September with Unilever

On 23 September we had a lively online NWGD Teams meeting on drying of vegetables with presentations from Unilever, Wageningen University and Université Laval. First, Xavier Lauteslager introduced Unilever and its new R&D facilities in Wageningen, being part of the Wageningen ecosystem. Subsequently, Joanne Siccama shared results from her PhD research about a new spray drying process procedure to convert by-streams from asparagus into a high quality asparagus powder. Seddik Khalloufi continued presenting about opportunities (providing nutritious and safe food) and challenges, e.g. shrinkage or costs, for dried food products.  Christina Ratti presented specific cases on drying of vegetables demonstrating for example the challenges when drying potatoes (case hardening) or new opportunities using osmotic dehydration for drying of tomatoes. Finally, Margaretha presented an overview of dried vegetable ingredients used within Unilever and accompanying challenges when incorporating those in applications.