Although the color, flavor and taste of freeze-dried (FD) strawberries pieces are very good, texture collapse
after rehydration limits the application of FD strawberry pieces in liquid carriers. In this work,
the effects of coating the freeze-dried pieces and the drying method after coating are investigated. The
best formula for the coating solution is found to be: whey protein 10%, glycerol 3%, lactose 10%. Color
of strawberry pieces can be protected to some extent by adding Na+ and b-Cyclodextrin (b-CD) in the
coating solution. The best proportions of Na+ and b-CD were 3 mg/ml and 0.5 mg/ml, respectively. Coated
freeze-dried pieces of strawberry were dried in a spouted bed. The rehydration characteristics of the
coated strawberry pieces were found to be influenced by the coating time as well as the drying conditions
used.