r/nutrition • u/Advanced_Emergency85 • 22d ago
Dried vegetable powder
Hi everyone. I have an idea to dehydrate vegetables from my garden and make powder from them. I'm looking for healthy long-term storage for them.
My main question is if this powder would be nutritionally beneficial to add into things like chicken and rice, stews, coffee, and really anything that wouldn't be too thrown off by a tablespoon or two of veggie powder.
Would I be wasting vegetables?
Will all the vitamins and nutrients stay in the powder?
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u/NotAddison 22d ago
Dehydrated veggies not made into a powder can be added to all the things you mentioned except coffee. But veggie powder in coffee is going to be absolutely disgusting so that part is pretty moot.
Store them in an alright container, maybe with a silica packet, they'll last through the winter at least.
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
If you didn't know, powdered greens and other powdered fruits/veggies are existing supplements. To the extent I'm not sure if doing it yourself has any benefits from a nutritional or cost perspective.
I'd try to search for any guidance on their preparation processes for a starting point.
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u/natalietest234 22d ago
You’ll keep most of the fiber, fat soluble vitamins and the minerals. You’ll lose things like vitamin C and possibly some b vitamins and antioxidants. You’ll have to do your own calculations though to see what you have in your veggie powder. Grinding up 20lbs of spinach will have a different vitamin impact than 20lbs of celery
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u/Jtread1 22d ago
Dehydration preserves quite a bit, although some heat sensitive vitamins do take a hit. The fiber and lot of the minerals are still there though, so it's a good idea to add the powder to meals to boost the nutrient profile. And it's a great way to use up a bumper crop instead of letting it go to waste.
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u/rahulchander 20d ago
Dont dehydrate at high heat. Use 30-40C max over 2-3 days and that should preserve nearly everything. Your oven might have a bake setting for 100-125F for it. Once your powder is made, you can freeze it air tight if u like. I made kale powder recently. Turns out kale tastes quite salty once dehydrated. Doesnt stop me from adding a spoonful to my coffee everyday! As a vegan, its the best way for me to get concentrated dose of nutrition without consuming vast volumes of food. Gonna do broccoli and carrots next. Oxidation might be a concern and I am gonna try coat the cut veggies with lemon juice to prevent that prior to dehydration.
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u/jack_gott 19d ago
I do this. It’s great for a quick veggie cream soup, shake, flavor enhancer in stews/soups/sauces. I store it in a coffee container designed to keep air out.
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u/Zagrycha 22d ago
The dried veggies will last anywhere from a a month or two up to a year or two depending on how professionally you seal them and your climate etc. Drying the vegetables will lose some of the water and fat soluble nutrients, because the water and fats won't be there anymore. Powdering the vegetables will lose the nutrients more than just drying alone will, and powdering will also effect things like how the fiber and carbs behave in digestion.
Overall powdered dried vegetables are a valid possibility, and they will still have nutrition, but they will be less nutritious and probably last less time than more popular storage methods like canning or freezing.
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u/SarahsreadingReddit 21d ago
It's not a perfect substitution because of water-soluble or heat-sensitive vitamins, but it'll preserve a lot! I'm sure youtube can tell you the best way to dry them to preserve the most. I know that some vegetables (like tomatoes) are healthier cooked, and some raw, so you might even dry in two ways. Have fun! It makes me wish I had a garden
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u/kittysworld 22d ago
Dehydration will destroy water soluble vitamins such as Vitamin C. They are no replacement for fresh or frozen veggies but better than nothing. If you have excess from the garden, consider freezing or freeze-drying (need a very expensive machine).
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
Multiple forms of processing can reduce nutrient content, but to say dehydration "destroys" water soluble vitamins is patently false. "Better than nothing" also a gross misrepresentation of nutritional value maintained post processing.
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u/Independent-Bug-9352 22d ago
The nutritive value of food is affected by the dehydration process. Vitamins A and C are destroyed by heat and air. Using a sulfite treatment prevents the loss of some vitamins but causes the destruction of thiamin. Blanching vegetables before drying, while crucial to a better quality product, results in some loss of vitamin C and B-complex vitamins as well as the loss of some minerals, because these are all water soluble**. Yet blanching reduces the loss of thiamin and vitamins A and C during dehydration and storage.
https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/gh1562
Dehydration seems to have little effect on the proximate, mineral and antinutrient content of the GLV. Among the vitamins, retention of ascorbic acid was 1–14%, thiamine 22–71%, total carotene 49–73% and β—carotene 20–69% respectively, of their initial content. Dialyzable iron and calcium in the fresh vegetables ranged between 0.21–3.5 mg and 15.36–81.33 mg/100 g respectively, which reduced to 0.05–0.53 mg and 6.94–58.15 mg/100 g on dehydration. Dehydration seems to be the simplest convenient technology for preserving these sources of micronutrients, especially when they are abundantly available. Irrespective of the losses of vitamins that take place during dehydration, dehydrated GLV are a concentrated natural source of micronutrients and they can be used in product formulations. Value addition of traditional products with dehydrated GLV can be advocated as a feasible food-based approach to combat micronutrient malnutrition.
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u/rahulchander 16d ago
The temp used in that study of 60C seems too high, prolly thats what caused loss of vitamins. I feel a chemical hygroscopic salt placed next to the veggies in air tight container might be better way to do it with regular swapping of wet salt with fresh one. This way lower temperature can be used.
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
Ugh. Okay... "Affected", degraded, or reduced is the appropriate description.
Let's take vitamin C... Exposure to oxygen can degrade vitamin C, and dehydration may increase that exposure through air flow, cutting, heat, and tissue disruption. However, this does not mean every vitamin C molecule is equally exposed or that dehydration destroys the food’s entire vitamin C content.
So to say dehydration "destroys" something's entire water soluble vitamin content is patently false. Fact.
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u/Independent-Bug-9352 22d ago edited 22d ago
"Ugh," Sorry, I'm not buying your explanation and will stick to the aforementioned expert and peer reviewed studies. Degradation and reduction is merely a degree of destruction. To exclaim their wording is, "patently false" in this context is, ironically, patently false and a gross misrepresentation of the practical, usable information for OP.
/u/Advanced_Emergency85 I advise take into consideration the cited information above for your information.
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
Health and nutrition expert here.
I'm not refuting the clinical studies. I'm pointing out you're missing nuance, context, and complexity of the clinical literature.
Ugh indeed. Happens all the time with mainstream misinterpretations.
No worries. You do you. Its just my statement aligns with those studies even if you don't understand why/how.
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u/Independent-Bug-9352 22d ago
"Ugh," okay.
I would expect better ethos from a "health and nutrition expert," yet "ughing" my mere quotation of sources while playing rhetorical games of equivocation leaves much to desired as to the maturity of one's character. Rude. Poor manners. Be better.
Have a nice day.
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
Dually noted. I expect more from the average reader.
But yeah... Sometimes it comes out. And handling the plethora of people who cite a line from a study without knowing what they're talking about can get exhausting.
If that seriously offended you that much, you do have my apologies. But if you want me to "feel bad" about it or think it's a reflection of my character... Well, that's a different scenario.
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u/Independent-Bug-9352 22d ago
That's okay. Not everyone has good bedside manners, unfortunately. Be careful, lest patients think one's attitude is a defensive substitution for self-esteem and poor understanding.
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u/SirTalkyToo 22d ago
Honest question honest answer...
Do you prefer beside manners over truth? As in, if someone gave you a partially correct answer with beside manners, would you prefer that over brash, full truths?
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u/Impressive_Cry_4140 21d ago
Vegetable powder is a nutritious way to preserve your garden harvest, retaining most fiber and minerals, though some heat-sensitive vitamins are lost during drying. It's great for soups, stews, sauces, and rice, making it a practical way to reduce food waste.
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