Powdered foods: structure, processing, and challenges: a review

Powdered foods are easy to store and transport, with a longer shelf life that minimizes potential waste, contributing to sustainable development. Each food category has a unique composition, responsible for its chemical and physical attributes, which directly influences the stability of powdered products. The drying method used is essential to obtain the desired characteristics of the powdered food, and the choice of each technology can provide unique morphological properties regarding size, shape, and density, among other factors. Furthermore, rehydration properties must also be investigated, as they play a fundamental role in the reconstitution of powdered foods, influencing the dispersion and dissolution of the powder in liquids. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the powdered food manufacturing process and its advantages. Special attention is given to the desirable properties of food powders, challenges related to stability, powdered food reconstitution properties, and case studies regarding many powdered foods. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support via national funds FCT/MCTES to the CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). J.M. Ueda thanks FCT for his Ph.D. grant (2022.13392.BD); M. Carocho thanks FCT for their individual employment program–contract (CEEC-IND/00831/2018); S.A. Heleno and L. Barros also thank FCT via the institutional scientific employment program–contract for her contract. P. Morales and V. Fernández- Ruiz are algo grateful to ALIMNOVA Research Group (UCM 252/2017).