Market Trends of India Spray Dried Food Industry
Increasing Demand from Dairy Industry
- The dairy industry has mostly used spray drying as a well-known technology in India. It is the world's largest milk producer, with an output of more than 209.96 million tons of cows' milk in 2021, according to Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). By spraying the milk solution or suspension into a hot drying gas medium, spray drying is a solid dispersion-based method that turns a material from a liquid to a dried powder state. Also, it is a preservation technique that reduces the water content of milk, enhancing its shelf life.
- Milk is converted into different forms using many drying methods, including spray drying. The most often produced items employing the spray drying technique are various dairy products, including milk powder, milk protein concentrates, ice cream powder mix, dry creamers, and many others.
- Whey powder is a product obtained through spray-drying and can be manufactured by separating protein from milk by adopting separation techniques before drying. The separation process removes most of the carbohydrates and leaves only minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium behind, which are then bound with proteins. Thus, it is a rich protein source when compared to skimmed milk powder and whole milk powder. The manufacturers of sports nutritional products widely prefer whey protein concentrate due to its wide availability, strong amino acid profile, and easy digestibility.
- Meanwhile, the consumption of sports nutrition has increased among fitness enthusiasts and active lifestyle consumers as it aids in gaining energy and muscle and supports weight management across countries like India. According to MuscleBlaze in India, the company saw its annual sales grow by nearly 25% in 2020, and the growth was largely propelled by the popularity of products, such as its Biozyme Whey Protein.
- Also, according to the United Nations Commodity Trade (UN COMTRADE) Statistics Database , the import of protein concentrates and textured protein substances to India witnessed a growth in the imports of the same, i.e., 4,480,336 kg in the year 2021. Thus, the increasing demand for similar products is driving the growth of the Indian spray dried food market.
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Consumer Inclination Toward Nutrient-rich Foods
- The food industry is undergoing significant transformation, producing ingredients-rich food products because of consumers' growing awareness of the impact of food ingredients on their health. In place of synthetic substances for the preservation of some foods, consumers have preferred more natural foods and fewer inorganic goods. The use of spray drying can help with the creation of cutting-edge procedures because it is essential for maintaining the active constituents like antioxidants, vitamins, and other volatile compounds in many food products, such as spices and herbs, fruit and vegetable powders, especially.
- Also, there is much interest from food manufacturers in producing natural plant-based powder forms of colorants, pigments, and biomaterials due to their potential capabilities. The use of synthetic colorants diminishes in parallel with consumer demand because of the adverse effects on health and the environment they have. However, natural colorants have some limitations, such as stability and availability. For this reason, it is not possible to use natural colorants directly in food processing, and the natural colorants are degraded in process conditions.
- Therefore, natural colorants' stability and characteristics are enhanced using different methods. One of the most effective methods is drying, which is considered a good way to protect sensitive materials such as natural colorants. Among these drying techniques, spray drying is one of the most widely used methods for heat-sensitive food. The powder of natural colorants obtained by spray dryers has a long shelf life, high stability, and applicability. Besides, spray drying is extensively used for the encapsulation process, when it entraps bioactive materials within a protective matrix to improve the stability of sensitive and functional food ingredients, such as natural food colorants.
- For instance, results from several research demonstrated that spray drying enhanced both recovery and product qualities. A recent study published in the journal Powder Technology discovered that mango powder, spray-dried (using dehumidified air), had a greater total carotenoid content than its cast-tape dried equivalents.
