At the Dried Foods Technology Lab (DFTL) at California State University, Fresno a group of men and women spend countless hours measuring, preparing, calculating and evaluating a new and unique food product. It’s all made possible with the MIVAC and Fresno State is proud to have the only MIVAC in the country. MIVAC stands for microwave vacuum dehydration technology. This 40 foot long stainless steel machine may look like it’s about to launch, but it’s actually launching a new concept in the world of food processing.

Dr. Carter Clary with the DFTL explains how the MIVAC works. He says, "Most of the ways that we remove water from food products requires that we use heat. Heat causes some reactions to take place. This leads to changes in color, texture, and appearance. This process avoids that." Instead, the microwave and vacuum process dries food quickly at very low temperatures. The end result is a lightweight product that retains its original flavor, color and nutritional value without any added chemicals. Dr. Clary, along with his staff and students, has dried grapes, strawberries, bananas, apples, peas, corn, carrots and even broccoli! All together, they’ve dried hundreds of food items.

Now, you may be wondering why we need to dry all of these products. Dr. Clary says, "You’ll find that 30 to 40 percent of the products that you’ve purchased in the supermarket are dried in one way or another. So, the dehydration business is very large in this country. Our goal is to see these products on the market as high quality dried fruits and vegetables."