What to consider while buying dried fruits?

Dried fruit can be a healthy snack and a great alternative to junk foods such as chips or puffs, which are harmful to health. People who don’t like eating fruits or have problems digesting them can easily enjoy the dried one, and at the same time, benefit from its nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, calcium, and fibre.

Furthermore, dried fruits are also good for those who are on a diet. But like any other product, buying dried food also needs some considerations. Some tips can help you buy the best and high-quality dried fruits.

Tips on buying dried fruits as a consumer

Know the available fruits

Most of the fruits can be dried, but not all of them. For example, fatty fruits such as avocados don’t dehydrate well; it’s better to eat them fresh. The most common dried fruits are apples, apricots, barberry, coconut, cranberries, dates, figs, goji berries, Inca berries, kiwi, tomato, lemon, mango, orange, pear, persimmon, pineapple, plum, raisin, strawberry.

Consider the quality  

The most important thing about every product is its quality. Especially for dried fruits, it’s important to know how to find out if they are high-quality. First of all, we should know how dried fruits are made.

There are different methods of drying fruits that have different effects on the final product. The most common methods of fruit dehydration are as follow:

• Sun-drying is the first and oldest method of drying fruits. However, this method has many disadvantages due to long time exposure to sunlight and open air.
• Solar drying is another dehydration method, which is the improved method of sun drying. The sun is still the main source of heat in this process. However, since ventilation speeds up the drying time, the risks of food spoilage or mold growth are reduced in this method.
• Freeze drying, as its name indicates, is the process of freezing the fruits and then reducing the pressure surrounds them. As a result, the fruits shrink and their water converts directly to vapor. Since no heating is involved in this method and the fruit tissue is not disrupted, freeze-dried fruits have better quality. That’s why you normally pay more for the freeze-dried fruits.

Read the ingredients

Not all dried fruits are 100% fruit. Some might have additives such as sugar, oil, or sulphites. Sugar is a common additive for most dried fruits, which can add to their flavour, but at the same time, will reduce the quality and nutrients of the fruit.

Moreover, when fruits are dried, they keep their natural sugar. Therefore, adding more sugar make them sweeter but might be harmful to people who want to cut sugar or have diabetes.

Sulphites is another additive that can be bad for individuals who are sensitive or allergic to them. Sulphites normally help the fruits keep their colour.

Some dried fruit might contain a small quantity of oil, which is helpful when the fruits are sticky. The oil will keep these types of fruits, such as raisins, separated. Although it’s not that much that hurts anyone, it just adds some fat to the fruit.

Therefore, if you are buying dried fruits as a pack, check the ingredient to ensure it doesn’t have any additive that might not be good for you.  

Tips on buying dried fruits as a wholesaler (in bulk)

Besides all the considerations mentioned before, the wholesalers should also check the company’s credibility and transparency, which means they need to know about the whole process of fruit dehydration and how traceable the supplier company is.

Moreover, as a wholesaler, they should have a good quality, cold and dried warehouse to keep the products in the best condition.

Bottom Line

Dried fruits can be so useful in making cakes and other desserts. You can find 10 best recipes with dried fruits here. Moreover, people should be careful about dried fruit intake, as it might contain sugar.

It’s better to find a company that sells no sugar added dried fruits. Always check the ingredients, the name of the company, and any standard signs they might have. We hope these tips are helpful to you.

PS. This article is written based on the research that Natural Moreish content team has done on different blogs, websites and articles. Natural Moreish doesn’t suggest acknowledge or claim the information on this post.