Dried Fruits

Drying is among the oldest preservation methods, reducing fruit to 15–25% moisture where microbial growth is inhibited and shelf life extends from days to months or years. The process concentrates sugars dramatically — dried dates reach 60–80% sugar — and drives two types of browning reactions (enzymatic oxidation of phenolics and Maillard reactions between sugars and amino acids) that generate complex caramel, roasted, and spice notes absent in the fresh fruit.