Everyone could do with more fruit in their diet, but often, our fast paced lifestyles make it difficult to ensure we are consuming enough on a daily basis. Additionally, fruit storage can present its own issues, with an estimated 6.7 million tonnes wasted every year in the UK.

However, there are other ways to benefit from the many vital nutrients that fruit contains, and save waste at the same time. Freeze dried fruits, such as those found at http://www.paradisefruits.co.uk/, are a great alternative to the fresh variety; also bringing a range of distinctly different benefits.

What’s more, there are a number of ways in which to purchase, prepare and consumer freeze dried fruits, each one suited to a set of different applications.

Powders, Segments or Slices

Freeze dried fruit is essentially fresh fruit that has been subject to freeze drying – a process that removes around 98% of the water content. This process prevents the food from spoiling whilst also retaining colours, shape and flavour.

In fact, whilst freeze dried fruit does lose a small amount of its nutritional value, it makes up for this with increased antioxidants and fibre content. What’s more, freeze dried fruit can be stored for years when packaged correctly. The only question to ask yourself, is in what form you want to enjoy your fruit?

Powders

Freeze dried fruit in powder form is great for making juices, smoothies, and other drinks with a real fruit base. Easily dissolvable and great for adding a fruit kick to anything you see fit, Freeze dried fruit powders are also fantastic in cakes and desserts. Additionally, you can store a broad range of fruits in very little space with the added benefit of extremely long shelf life.

Segments

Segments are another method of freeze drying fruits, allowing you to eat them whole or combine them in recipes of your choice. Again, great for cakes and desserts, or simply as a handy snack whilst on the road, segmented fruits that have been freeze dried are a fantastic dietary supplement. Segments also retain their own distinct textures unlike powdered fruit.

Slices

Sliced fruit that has been freeze dried provides many of the benefits of segmented fruit, just simply in a smaller form. Great as a handy snack or used within a variety of recipes, choosing sliced freeze dried fruit is ideal if you want to mix multiple fruits to help provide a more balanced dietary supplement. They are also rather aesthetically pleasing when used on desserts.