Yakima
Labels: Central, District_14, Yakima
Tree Top, Inc.
Selah
http://www.treetop.com/
Research Partner: Dr. Carter Clary, WSU Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering
Year project began: 2004
Project Description
The domestic and international market for ready-to-eat cereal is a large and rapidly-growing market estimated in the billions of dollars. Adding dried fruit to cereals has become a widely accepted practice. To dry fruit without degradation of shape, color and flavor, the trend has been to use vacuum- or freeze-drying equipment. These methods are labor intensive, expensive and produce small quantities of useable product. Microwave vacuum drying is an attractive alternative, producing high-quality, well-preserved fruit at a lower cost. Tree Top, a Central Washington-based grower-owned cooperative that produces apple products, partnered with Dr. Clary from Washington State University to prototype various fruits and berries using microwave vacuum drying that met standards for inclusion in RTE cereals. In a follow-on study, the company concentrated on exclusively drying apples infused with high fructose corn syrup. The partners are continuing their partnership in this third phase project with studies to test various sugar additives to achieve maximum product taste and texture. The project will also look at the feasibility of producing the drying equipment for commercial sale to fruit processors.
Selah
http://www.treetop.com/
Research Partner: Dr. Carter Clary, WSU Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering
Year project began: 2004
Project Description
The domestic and international market for ready-to-eat cereal is a large and rapidly-growing market estimated in the billions of dollars. Adding dried fruit to cereals has become a widely accepted practice. To dry fruit without degradation of shape, color and flavor, the trend has been to use vacuum- or freeze-drying equipment. These methods are labor intensive, expensive and produce small quantities of useable product. Microwave vacuum drying is an attractive alternative, producing high-quality, well-preserved fruit at a lower cost. Tree Top, a Central Washington-based grower-owned cooperative that produces apple products, partnered with Dr. Clary from Washington State University to prototype various fruits and berries using microwave vacuum drying that met standards for inclusion in RTE cereals. In a follow-on study, the company concentrated on exclusively drying apples infused with high fructose corn syrup. The partners are continuing their partnership in this third phase project with studies to test various sugar additives to achieve maximum product taste and texture. The project will also look at the feasibility of producing the drying equipment for commercial sale to fruit processors.
Labels: Central, District_14, Life_Sciences, RTD_Grant_Program_L-Z, Selah, WSU
