Commercially dried and dehydrated foods are prepared with treatments or preservatives that aim to help the foods keep as many of their original nutrients as possible. If they are prepared properly, most dried foods have nearly the same nutritional profiles as their fresh counterparts, but they are more calorie-concentrated. In some foods, however, nutrients are lost as a natural part of the dehydration process.
Calories
Dried foods have more calories per serving than fresh foods. Calories become concentrated since a majority of the weight in many fresh foods is water, and that weight disappears when the food is dried. People who are watching their weight and incorporating dried foods into their diets should regulate their servings of these foods and monitor the calories they eat, since even a small serving of most dried foods can pack in about 10 times the amount of calories as a serving of the fresh food would.
Taste and Texture
Many dried foods have somewhat muted tastes and textures. Water and moisture is an important part of the texture and taste for a number of foods, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables, and these items can feel leathery in the mouth and taste dull when dried. In some cases, the altered taste is a reflection of a loss of nutrients or vitamins in the dried product.
Vitamins
According to the University of Missouri, the drying and dehydration process for some foods can result in a loss of vitamins A, B, C and the mineral thiamin. Vitamins A and C are naturally destroyed with exposure to heat and air, and the blanching and sulfite treatments that some foods undergo in the dehydration process destroys thiamin and B vitamins. Other vitamins and nutrients that are preserved throughout the drying process become more concentrated in the dried product.
Absorption
In a California study published in the Journal of Nutrition, subjects digested fat and protein equally well in diets featuring fresh foods and dried foods, and researchers concluded that dried food was as nutritious as fresh. The only significant difference that researchers found in the study was that subjects following a fresh-food diet had higher positive nitrogen balances.
Storage
Vitamins and minerals found in both fresh and dried foods degrade over time. Though dried foods are made to last for an extended period of time without risk of spoilage, they lose nutritional value as time goes on and are best eaten within a few months of drying.
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