Organic Freeze-Dried Sprouts Information

Committed to producing high quality, enzyme active ingredients

Dynamic Nutraceuticals is committed to producing shelf-stable sprout products that are as close to the original raw ingredient as possible. Our products are processed and dried without heat to maintain the activity of the plant’s enzymes – they are live foods with all the benefits that implies.

We began a research program in the early 90’s to develop a method of growing sprouts that would result in much lower levels of bacteria in the product than was available from fresh sprouts sold at the time. Our goal was to develop a product clean enough to be dried without the normal high temperature treatment used to kill bacteria in other dried sprout products. Because high temperatures are not needed to control bacteria growth, our process can be kept cold enough so that enzymes are not denatured during the drying process – most of these enzymes are still in an active state and are still capable of catalyzing cellular reactions after being reconstituted.

This research program was successful and ahead of its time. It wasn’t until five years after we implemented our program that the FDA began requiring all sprout growers to apply harsh chemical treatments to fresh sprouts in order to control bacteria growth. Unlike the single step treatment the FDA recommended for sprouts, the process we developed requires several more steps but doesn’t require the harsh chemical treatments used in the standard process. This more gentle treatment also helps to keep sprout enzymes active and helps assure that your customers are getting a true live food.

We have built on these early successes with a program of constant improvement. Every year we have managed to make process and equipment changes to enhance our ability to produce live foods that are unique in our industry. Some of the unique abilities of our plant and process are as follows:
 

• Our unique pasteurization process is not only more gentle on the product than the process used by commercial sprout growers, it is also less costly and less damaging to the finished product. In addition, we use a final neutralizing step that eliminates any residual of the wash process in the final product and keeps off-tastes from developing during storage.
• All products are freeze-dried, not air dried and no high temperature steps are used that might degrade enzyme activity. The advantages of freeze-drying over any drying process that uses higher temperatures is well known (see Freeze Drying vs. Other Drying Methods). In addition to that advantage, we have modified our dryer to use a much colder ice condensing process to further protect the product. We have the only freeze dryer in the world using a two stage, ozone friendly, refrigeration process that allows drying to be accomplished at temperatures well below those used by commercial freeze-dryers.
• Unlike the normal freeze-drying process used by commercial food processors in which the freezing and drying processes are done in the same equipment, we have split our process so that the two steps are done separately with equipment specifically designed for each step. By using a separate freezing step, we are able to freeze much faster than normal. This stops the damage to cells that is caused by slow growing ice crystals, which can puncture cell walls and allow cell contents to leak and mix with extra- cellular plant components. Fast freezing only allows small rounded crystals to form so that cells aren’t damaged – and cell components like enzymes and other proteins are kept intact within undamaged cells until drying is complete.
• Unlike most sprout producers, Dynamic Nutraceuticals is able to perform all processing steps in the same facility. Growing and drying of sprouts as well as post-processing steps such as size reduction and screening are all done in-house. This eliminates transit time between process steps because we don’t have to ship unfinished product to third-party vendors. By doing it all ourselves, we are able to react more quickly to quality problems; minimizing costs and assuring that only the best product is delivered to our customers.
• If your customers are looking for live products with active enzymes, our sprouts really are a better ingredient. (see Sprouts as an Ingredient). But not all sprouts are created equal – air dried sprout processes that use harsh chemical treatments and high temperatures to control bacteria aren’t eliminating just bacteria. They also denature enzymes and degrade other active molecules at the same time.

Producing live shelf-stable sprout products is not easy – it requires attention to detail and a willingness to go the extra mile. Dynamic Nutraceuticals is dedicated to producing the best sprout product available on the market; we don’t cut corners to reduce costs or increase production. We think your customers will agree with us – nobody makes a more active sprout product.