Also known as living food, dehydrated food goes through the process of dehydration that gets rids of the water content however retains the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, stops the bacterial growth and preserves the enzymes. This method is one of the many ways to preserve food which prevents it from going bad, making it possible for you to save money in bulk buying and store it for the future.

Dehydrated vegetables and fruits have been around for quite some time now, and dehydrating has used by many civilizations as a means of food preservation. When dehydrating your fruits and vegetables you are basically getting rid of the moisture which facilitates you in storing the vegetables and rehydrate or use them at a later time convenient for you in contrast to having to use them right away or stocking them up in the freezer.

The food dehydrator, with its simple and convenient design has made the procedure of dehydrating a lot simpler, resulting in more and more people choosing the option as a means of adding vitamins and nutrients to meals.

WHY DEHYDRATE VEGETABLES?

• Using a dehydrator to dehydrate vegetables will affect its nutritional value only minutely. Vitamin A and C, fiber, magnesium, carbohydrates and selenium are only a few of the nutrients named that will be retained in dehydrated vegetables. These foods also come with the benefit of being pesticide and chemical free.
• Vegetables, fruits and other food items can be stored and preserved safely.
• Dehydration allows you to harvest or buy vegetables in bulk without having to fear them going rancid.
• Dehydrated vegetables, as compared canned vegetables, have a much longer shelf life provided that container used to store the food in is thoroughly sealed. * Dehydrated vegetables will retain their flavor.
• You can also use dehydrated vegetables as healthy and delicious lunchbox snacks and are ideal to take along in outdoor activities such as hiking and camping.
• You can rehydrate dehydrated vegetables anytime simply by adding water to it. This will make the preparation of soup much easier especially when you are at a loss of time for cleaning and chopping up the vegetables.
• These vegetables are easy to pack when you are going outdoors such as hiking and take up minimal space.
• In times of natural disasters you will have the reassurance that in absence of any other food, dehydrated vegetables will always be there to save the day.
• Purchasing ready-made dehydrated vegetables is a little pricey. By making your own batch in your food dehydrator will economize on costs in the long term.
• There remains no need for a freezer to s tore dehydrated vegetables.
• It takes less effort and time to dehydrate your vegetables than if you would freeze or can them.

WHICH VEGETABLES CAN BE DEHYDRATED IN YOUR DEHYDRATOR?

• Beets and broccoli
• Green and yellow beans
• Cauliflower and cabbage
• Celery, cucumber, carrots, eggplant and corn
• Horseradish, garlic, mushrooms, peppers and parsnips
• Leeks onions and garlic
• Peas, potatoes, pumpkin and okra
• Swiss chard, kale, Spinach and rhubarb
• Pumpkin, zucchini and summer squash
• Sweet potatoes, turnips and tomatoes.