Freezedry Harvest
Greens powders
Green powders from crops dried cold,
milled to your specification.
Freeze-dried herb and leafy vegetable powders suit greens and smoothie mixes because the crop is dried frozen, at low temperature, which avoids most of the heat damage to color, aroma and heat-sensitive compounds. We make certified organic mint, parsley and ginger powders to your specification, single ingredient, and can grow kale, broccoli and carrot for your program.
01 — What drying keeps
The powder can only be as good as the dried leaf.
A greens powder starts as a dried crop that is then milled. Whatever the drying step lost, the powder has lost too. Heat is the main cause of those losses: it drives off volatile oils, breaks down chlorophyll and degrades vitamin C and other heat-sensitive compounds.
Freeze drying keeps the product frozen and cold while the water leaves as vapor. In published studies, freeze-dried chives held more chlorophyll than hot-air-dried chives, vitamin C in mango was not significantly different from fresh after freeze drying, and freeze-dried garlic kept more allicin than heat-dried garlic. In ginger, hot-air drying above about 70–80 °C begins to convert gingerols; freeze drying stays well below that range.
The same studies show the limits. Beta-carotene and total phenolics in mango fell after freeze drying, and one study on orange slices found more vitamin C after hot-air drying. Freeze drying reduces heat damage; it does not stop every change. We make no health or nutrient claims for our powders, and your label claims are yours to substantiate.
02 — Where powders come from
Three routes to a vegetable powder, compared.
Typical behavior from the published literature, not FD Harvest specifications.
| Freeze dried, then milled | Hot-air dried, then milled | Spray dried | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting material | Whole, cut crop | Whole, cut crop | A juice, extract or slurry |
| Heat on the product | Low product temperature, under vacuum | Heated air, typically about 40–80 °C in herb and vegetable trials | Hot air for seconds; settings tuned to limit heat exposure |
| Color of green crops | Keeps more chlorophyll than hot-air drying | Chlorophyll breaks down and browning speeds up | Depends on the feed and the carrier used |
| Moisture | 1.5–4% reported for freeze-dried vegetable and fruit powders | Dried to a spec limit, typically higher | Low; often needs a carrier to dry well |
| Ingredient list | One ingredient | One ingredient | Often the crop plus a carrier such as maltodextrin |
Our powders are single ingredients, made only when you ask. The moisture target for each is on its spec sheet and agreed with you at trial.
03 — Specifying a powder
What to put in the brief for a greens powder.
A clear brief gets you a useful sample first time. These are the points we ask about.
- 1
Crop and part
Mint, parsley or ginger from the standing range, or kale, broccoli or carrot grown for your program.
- 2
Particle size
Give the fineness you need, or the mesh your line uses. A fine powder disperses in a shaker bottle; a coarser one shows green flecks and flows better.
- 3
Moisture and water activity
Tell us the other powders in the mix. Matching water activity across the blend is the main defense against caking in the tub.
- 4
Organic status
If the front of pack says organic, every certified ingredient must come with its certificate. Ours are certified USDA Organic and EU Organic by Ecocert.
- 5
Micro specification
A greens powder is usually stirred into cold water or milk and drunk without cooking. Agree the micro limits up front; our lots are micro-tested in our own lab.
- 6
Packing
Freeze-dried powders are hygroscopic. We pack them in metalized pouches straight after milling; tell us the pack size your line takes.
Free samples are shipped globally with a spec sheet for each ingredient.
04 — Organic and blending
An organic label needs organic ingredients, start to finish.
The herbs and vegetables we grow are certified USDA Organic and EU Organic by Ecocert, so their powders can carry the organic claim into your product. More on certification is on our organic page.
Freeze-dried powders are light and porous and pull moisture from humid air, so blend in a dry room and close containers quickly. Mixed with heavier powders such as protein or fiber, check for separation after transit.
Mint adds a cooling note, parsley a clean green color, ginger warmth. Each is one ingredient, so you control the proportions. See freeze-dried mint for the leaf it starts as.
05 — Questions
Questions buyers ask about freeze-dried greens powders.
Which freeze-dried herb powders do you make for greens and smoothie mixes?
Mint, parsley and ginger powders, certified organic. Kale, broccoli and carrot can be grown on our own farms and powdered for your program.
Are your greens powders single ingredient?
Yes. Each powder is milled from one freeze-dried crop with nothing added. We make powders only when a customer asks for them, to that customer's specification.
Can you mill to a specific particle size?
Powders are made to your specification. Tell us the fineness or mesh your line needs, and we confirm it at trial.
Does freeze drying keep the nutrients in leafy greens?
Freeze drying avoids the high product temperatures of hot-air drying, and in published studies it retained heat-sensitive compounds such as vitamin C better than heat drying, though not every compound is unaffected. We make no nutrient or health claims for our powders.
Can freeze-dried greens powders go into an organic product?
Yes. Our herbs and vegetables are certified USDA Organic and EU Organic by Ecocert, and the certificate is available on request.
How do I stop a greens powder from caking?
Match the water activity of every powder in the blend, mix in a dry room and pack in a container with a good moisture barrier. Freeze-dried powders finish very dry but take up moisture from humid air.
Contact us to discuss your product requirements.
Tell us the powders you need, the fineness and the rest of your blend. We send free samples with a spec sheet for each.
Contact usSources
- Ratti C., Hot air and freeze-drying of high-value foods: a review, J. Food Eng. 49 (2001)
- Chen et al., drying methods and chive chlorophyll, Modern Food Science and Technology (2020)
- Shofian N.M. et al., freeze drying and mango antioxidants, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 12 (2011)
- Ratti C. et al., freeze drying and garlic allicin, Drying Technology (2007)
- Gingerol conversion during drying, Molecules 23 (2018) 1646
- Hot-air vs freeze drying of orange slices and vitamin C, J. Agric. Mach.
- Moisture and water activity of freeze-dried powders, Sci. J. Gdynia Maritime Univ.
- INFLIBNET e-PG Pathshala, food technology module on spray and drum drying