Freezedry Harvest
Ingredient · Oregano
Organic oregano,
frozen the day it is picked.
FD Harvest supplies freeze-dried organic oregano as chopped flakes, grown on our own farms at Lake Naivasha and in the dryers the day it is picked. It is certified USDA and EU Organic by Ecocert, packed in metalized pouches and keeps 3 years sealed. Samples are free, with a spec sheet.
01 — The herb
The pizza herb, grown to the drying schedule.
Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is a perennial of the mint family and the herb behind pizza, Greek salad and the tomato sauces of the Mediterranean and Mexico. Its warm, peppery taste comes from volatile oils in the leaf, mainly carvacrol and thymol.
We grow it on our own farms and with contracted growers around Lake Naivasha, planted to the drying schedule and harvested all year. Each harvest is washed, graded and frozen the day it comes in from the field. The crop is certified USDA Organic and EU Organic by Ecocert.
02 — The cut
Chopped flakes as standard, anything else to your specification.
Our standard is a chopped flake: small, even pieces of leaf that spread through a dry blend and show as green flecks in a sauce.
A finer flake, a powder, or oregano blended with garlic, chili or other herbs from the range is developed with you, piloted small at the plant and then scaled, with no minimum order. Oregano is never powdered unless you ask.
03 — Applications
Where oregano goes, and when to add it.
Most oregano ends up in seasonings and spice blends or in instant soups and ready meals. A starting point for your bench trial:
| Application | When to add | What the flake does |
|---|---|---|
| Pizza and pasta seasoning blends | Mixed dry with salt, garlic and chili | Flows with the blend; the aroma opens up when it meets heat or oil. |
| Tomato and pizza sauces | Late in the cook, or at the stage your food safety plan sets | Takes up water in the sauce and leaves visible green specks. |
| Instant soups and cup meals | In the dry seasoning sachet | Rehydrates when the hot water goes in. |
| Crackers, breads and focaccia | Into the dough at mixing, or on top before baking | Brings no water into the dough; on top it reads as visible herb. |
There is no single dose. The flake carries the flavor of the leaf without its water, so start below a recipe written for fresh oregano.
04 — What drying cold keeps
No hot air on the leaf, so less oil is driven off.
Oregano's flavor sits in volatile oil, and heat drives volatile oil off; reviews of herb drying report that hot air often causes a substantial loss of volatile compounds. Freeze drying removes the water under vacuum while the leaf stays cold, so no hot air passes over it.
Published trials on dill and spearmint found freeze-dried herb kept more aroma than hot-air-dried herb. They do not cover oregano, and results vary by herb, so judge our samples against your current supply.
Moisture differs too. The draft Codex standard for dried oregano allows up to 11–12 % moisture; freeze-dried herbs typically finish at a few percent. Our target is on the spec sheet, agreed with you at trial.
05 — Packing and samples
What arrives with a pouch of oregano.
Freeze-dried oregano pulls moisture from the air, so it is packed straight after drying.
- Metalized pouches, bulk or retail-ready, each with a lot number traceable to farm, plot, harvest date, dryer run and packing date.
- Lots micro-tested in our own lab; a spec sheet with each ingredient.
- 3 years in sealed packaging. Store cool, dry and dark; reseal once opened.
- Free samples shipped globally, no minimum order, supply by sea from Mombasa or by air.
Questions
Questions buyers ask about freeze-dried oregano.
Is FD Harvest's freeze-dried oregano organic?
Yes. Our oregano is certified organic to USDA Organic and EU Organic standards by Ecocert, grown on our own farms and by contracted growers at Lake Naivasha. Certificate on request.
How is freeze-dried oregano different from ordinary dried oregano?
Ordinary dried oregano is usually dried with hot air or in the open. Freeze-dried oregano is frozen and dried under vacuum while it stays cold, avoiding the heat that drives off volatile oils, and it typically finishes at a lower moisture.
How much freeze-dried oregano replaces fresh oregano?
Use less by weight than fresh, because the water is gone and the flavor stays in the flake. There is no fixed conversion; set the dose on the bench with a free sample.
Can I stir freeze-dried oregano straight into a pizza sauce?
Yes. The flakes rehydrate in the sauce without soaking. If the oregano goes in after the last heat step, agree micro limits in your spec; our lots are micro-tested in our own lab.
How long does freeze-dried oregano keep?
Three years in sealed metalized pouches. Once opened, reseal the pouch and keep it dry.
Contact us to discuss your product requirements.
Tell us the product and flake size, and we will send oregano samples with a spec sheet.
Contact usSources
- Thamkaew et al., review of herb drying methods, Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. (2021)
- Huopalahti et al., aroma of dried dill (1985)
- Antal et al., drying and spearmint essential oil, Drying Technology (2011)
- Codex draft standard for dried oregano
- Moisture and water activity of freeze-dried powders, Gdynia Maritime Univ.