Spices

Bio treatment of powders & spices

On the powders and spices preservation, spoilage is not a direct hazard that concerns, but its loss of quality over time is. Color, aroma and flavors are key on spices and powders conservation and must to be kept, so its commercial value is saved as well.

Air, moisture and sun light can slowly depreciate the good’s quality and can even lead to aflatoxins events among others.

Spices and dried herbs are a group of agricultural commodities that can be fruit or seed-based (such as paprika), bark or flower based (such as cinnamon), root or rhizomes based (such as turmeric and ginger) and leaf based (such as oregano). Spices and dried herbs are normally classified as low-moisture foods (LMFs). Low-moisture foods are defined as food items that have water activity of less than 0.85.1. This is by design already a good preservation policy, but in recent years, there has been an increased number of recalls for dried herbs and spices due to contamination by pathogens.

So, on conservation of powders and spices is key to control moisture and the VacQPack’s flexible packaging solution can serve that purpose. They are also hygroscopic and therefore of high chance to lump, if vacuum is wrongly applied.

VacQPack uses a gas barrier EVOH with very low oxygen transmission rate OTR and water vapor transmission rates WVTR. It’s watertight to avoid lumping and fermentation and gastight to maintain the original aroma and flavors. It offers traceability and sustainability when applying its bio treatment on such high valued commodities. It also offers shelf life extension and a packaging solution that can be opened and sealed multiple times.

The main challenge of applying vacuum (low pressure) and a controlled atmosphere CA on spices and powders is the high density of the product. For that reason, the VacQPack valve is enriched with an internal filter, whose material is approved to be in direct contact with food. This filter will work as an aid in the vacuum process, so that the product is not simply aspirated, due to its high density and small proportions.

This machine is also prepared to be regulated in order to better package products of high density. By experience, VacQPack knows that vacuum and flushes get harder as higher is the density of the product, so the pressure levels are adjusted and are programable by the software, and the user can jump from one commodity to another just by choosing the preprogramed plan.