The food is rapidly frozen, then freezing water into tiny ice crystals and sublimating, leaving its structure and color intact and the nutrients are hardly lost.
In the literature, Mr. Altmann used the freeze-drying method for histological research in order to preserve specimens of biological tissues in 1890. Entering the 19th century, some bacterial, serological and scholars use this technology to preserve immune serum, virus, and bacteria, mainly led by Mr. Shacknell in 1909. After the Second World War, it was studied and promoted in the food industry as a food processing technology.
In Japan, Mr. MOMOSE, the biologist and university professor and Mr. MATSUZAWA, the founder of TOYO GIKEN CO.,LTD. developed the FD device for food processing with large capacity and realized the mass production of freeze-dried miso soup in 1961.
The technology that was originally only used in pharmaceutical manufacturing has become a mass production technology which can be used in food processing and has contributed to the popularity and development of FD food in Japan and East/Southeast Asia.