Which has fewer calories: dried fruit or fresh fruit?
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During the process of making dried fruit
What will happen to the heat?
Dried fruits are made by first pre-processing fresh fruits—such as washing and slicing them—and then removing most of their moisture through natural air-drying, sun-drying, low-temperature freeze-drying, or deep-frying and dehydration. Different processing methods can significantly affect the calorie content of dried fruits:
Natural air-drying and sun-drying
These two traditional methods remove moisture through natural air-drying. Although the process is simple, the reduction in moisture causes the sugar content and calories to become relatively concentrated.
Low-temperature freeze-drying
This method is carried out at low temperatures, which helps to better preserve the fruit’s nutritional components. However, as the moisture content decreases, the sugar and calorie levels also become concentrated.
Fried and dehydrated
During the frying process, fruits lose a significant amount of moisture, achieving a dehydrated effect and resulting in a crisp texture. However, this method also concentrates the fruit’s sugars and dramatically increases its fat content, leading to a substantial rise in calorie count.
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Can dried fruit replace fresh fruit?
Although dried fruits have certain nutritional advantages in terms of specific nutrients, they cannot fully replace fresh fruits. Fresh fruits are rich in water, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other nutrients—components that may be partially lost during the processing of dried fruits. Moreover, dried fruits tend to be relatively high in calories; consuming them in excess can easily lead to excessive calorie intake and increase the risk of obesity. Take apples as an example: fresh apples contain about 85% water, whereas freeze-dried apple chips contain only around 5% water. This means that eating 200 grams of dried apple chips is equivalent to consuming the calories from 1.3 kilograms of fresh apples—roughly the equivalent of eating four fresh apples. In addition, some dried fruits have significantly higher sugar content than their fresh counterparts. For instance, dried persimmons and dried jackfruit have total sugar contents more than three times higher than those of their fresh counterparts, while dried strawberries have a total sugar content nine times greater than that of fresh strawberries.
Therefore, dried fruits can serve as an occasional snack option, but they cannot completely replace fresh fruits in your daily diet.
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How to do it correctly
Choose dried fruits for Japanese-style snacks?
Choose fruit dried without additives.
Prioritize products that contain no added sugars, oils, salts, or any food additives. Check the ingredient list—only fruits and vegetables should be listed, with no other ingredients included.
Control your intake.
It is recommended that daily consumption of dried fruit should not exceed 30 grams. After consuming dried fruit, you should reduce your intake of fruits or staple foods on the same day accordingly to avoid excessive total calorie intake. If the dried fruit has been deep-fried, you should also pay extra attention to controlling your overall fat intake.
Use with caution in special populations.
Children, the elderly, obese individuals, and people with diabetes should carefully select dried fruits to avoid adverse health effects caused by their high sugar and calorie content.
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What factors influence the texture of dried fruit products?
The texture of dried fruit—such as softness/hardness, sweetness/sourness, crispness/tenderness, and chewiness—is the result of the combined effects of multiple factors. At its core, this texture is closely related to the characteristics of the raw ingredients, processing techniques, formulation adjustments, and storage conditions. Specifically, it can be broken down into the following six key dimensions, which will be analyzed in detail in conjunction with the specific characteristics of different dried fruit varieties:
A national standard for dried fruits and vegetables will be introduced.
With continuous innovation in production and processing technologies, dried fruit and vegetable products are no longer limited to natural air-drying and hot-air drying; low-temperature freeze-drying and microwave drying have also become popular methods chosen by manufacturers. Under different processing techniques, the quality specifications for dried fruit and vegetable products vary accordingly.
Dried fruit products are obtained by removing most of the moisture contained in fresh fruits through drying processes. Traditional drying methods are divided into natural drying and artificial drying. The temperature conditions generally fall into either ambient temperature or heated environments.
