- Candies contain a certain amount of water in their normal state. During the freeze-drying process, the first step is the freezing stage, where the water in the candies freezes into ice. Then, during the drying stage, the ice sublimates directly from solid to gas (this is the key feature of Minicrush freeze-drying technology, that is, ice changes directly to gas without passing through the liquid state).
- When the ice sublimates, the space originally occupied by the ice will leave gaps, forming a porous and loose structure in the candy. This structural change makes the volume of the candy appear to increase, as if the candy has "expanded". For example, imagine a sponge filled with water. When the water is frozen into ice and then the ice sublimates and disappears, the sponge will leave many holes and the overall volume will appear larger.
2. **The effect of internal gas expansion**
- Some candies contain dissolved gases or gases mixed in during processing. During the freeze-drying process, the ambient pressure decreases and the temperature changes, and these gases expand. At the same time, as the water sublimates, the pressure balance inside the candy is also broken, and the gas has more space to expand, which in turn causes the volume of the candy to increase. This is just like opening a sealed container filled with compressed gas. After the gas is released, the container will look more "bulky". The same principle applies to freeze-dried candies.
