Drying food with sound waves.

• Position: Sonic dryer

A new machine uses sound as well as heat to dry foods such as orange juice, corn syrup, tomato paste, and molasses for the first time without using additives. The sonic dryer preserves more of the nutrients, color, and flavor of food products than traditional methods that rely solely on heat, indicates Jay Marks, associate professor of food science, Purdue University, the lead researcher on the technology. "With conventional drying, the higher temperatures cook the ingredients, changing the chemical nature of the product. For example, egg whites and orange juice can't be dried with conventional dryers because you cook the product. With the sonic dryer, on the other hand, you end up with a powder that is identical to the original product with only the moisture removed."

Conventional dryers use fans to move air heated to 300-600[degrees]F past the material being dried. In the sonic dryer, pulses of intense, low-frequency sound weaves move relatively low-temperature air--140-250[degrees]--past the material to supplement the fans. The food can be dried faster with the sonic dryer than with conventional heat drying.

Drying foods reduces shipping costs, potentially lowering some food prices for consumers. "Ninety percent of the weight of foods such as orange juice is water, and often they have to be shipped in glass containers, which adds extra weight. For example, by drying molasses--and the sonic dryer is the first machine to dry molasses without...