INSIGHT - Comments
Volume 4 No. 12 Other Applications of Freeze-Drying
Dear Tom Jennings,
Thank you for Insight. I found this one especially interesting, as I have worked in a few of the areas mentioned, and indeed, even written articles about some of the others. I have a few comments and additions for your information.
I am honored to have been referenced (3), but must note that I have an "l" in my last name, which is "Flink" and not "Fink". I can also note that reference nr 4, to Judd King's article, should probably be C.J. King, as he usually (at that time at least) went by C. Judson King.
As for freeze-dried products in the food industry, I think that you will find that they are widespread as ingredients in prepared food mixes. Some years ago, when I was in academia, I was consultant for a Danish freeze-drying company, and they had a rather extensive product mix, of vegetables, fruit and berry pieces, and some seafood. One of
their more successful products, which was not an ingredient, was freeze-dried Greenland
shrimps. These are small shimps, used primarily on Danish
open-face sandwiches, but could also be used in a cocktail. They were very good, definitely the equal of the frozen or "fresh (in brine)". Also, in the Danish supermarkets, and presumably also in the US, there are a number of herbs that are available as freeze-dried. Again, for Danish Freeze-Dried Ltd, a successful product was freeze-dried chives. I haven't had contact with them for some years, but from what I see in the market, I
don't think that things have changed. There are a number of similar companies in the US,
which can be found by checking the IFT directory.
Of special interest was your section on freeze-drying for Restoration of Valuable Documents. I can modestly mention that I was one of the first to do this, and the first to widely publicize it, through an article in Nature in 1971. (Conservation of Water-damaged Written Documents by Freeze-drying, Nature vol 234, No. 5329, p.420, Dec 17, 1971). I freeze-dried about 80 kg of hand written original manuscripts, old books plus a photo album documenting a Greenland expedition from 1906 for the Greenland
Regional Library. Your suggestions for a program studying freeze-drying of documents is worthwhile, but I would note that there has been done quite a bit of work in the conservation world since 1971. I published a few studies myself, and know that there were programs at the Library of Congress and the New England Document Center in the 70's. In Denmark, there have been studies on freeze-drying of paper and old degraded wood. Unfortunately, my experience is that much of their activities don't come to the awareness of our technological world, as they publish in journals that we normally don't see. I haven't been involved in this area since the rise of the internet, so this may be different today. In any case, I would strongly suggest that you ally yourself with a document conservation organization, both regarding the conservation questions and what is taking place in their world.
Those were my few observations. Looking forward to the next Insight.
James M. Flink, R., Professor, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist
Pharmaceutics, Ge
Protein Drug Delivery
Novo Nordisk A/S
Hagedornsvej 1
DK-2820 Gentofte, DENMARK
Tel: (+45) 4443 9492
e-mail: jmfl@novonordisk.com
December 2001
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Response by T.A. Jennings, Ph.D.
Dear James:
Please accept my deepest apologies for the misspelling of your last name. That was a dreadful mistake and error on my part. I will correct that and the other mistakes that you cited on my web site later today. In fact now that I have your e-mail address, I will cite that also in the current INSIGHT so that people will be able contact you directly should they have any questions.
I would like to publish your comments, including my dreadful errors, next month in the comments section of our web site. I know that others will find your remarks concerning the freeze-drying of about 80 kg of hand written original manuscripts, old books plus a photo album documenting a Greenland expedition from 1906 for the Greenland Regional Library very fascinating.
Your suggestion of contacting a document conservation organization is excellent. Can you please recommend one that we chould contact?
I am delighted that you took the time to write and I hope that we will hear more from you in the future. If you feel that you would like to share your experiences with others with an INSIGHT, I would gladly see that it was published. I feel that is what the Internet is all about.
My many many thanks.
Tom
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Reply by Professor James M. Flink
Dear Tom,
Thanks for your note. You can "print" my comments if you wish.
I have made a quick look on the web, via google, and got plenty of "hits" using "document conservation" and "freeze-drying books" as search terms. Among other things, there are several references to Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Mass, which I had remembered incorrectly as New England DCC. There was a link to the Library of Congress, among others. Under freeze-drying books, there were a number of reports and
histories.
Just as a curiosity, I can note that the oldest book (printed, not hand-written) was a missionary's report on Greenland with drawings and maps from 1738. Most of the hand-written documents were the manuscripts of Samuel Kleinschmidt for translation of the Bible and History books into the written Greenlandic language, dating from mid-1800s. Samuel Kleinschmidt developed the written Greenlandic language, which up to his time was only a spoken language. These manuscripts are very interesting, because a bit of
the writing was made under a magnifying glass, and is difficult to read with the naked eye. I don't know if this was to save paper, or to be able to put extra lines or corrections in an already written text.
Hope that this is of some help.
Sincerely,
James
December 2001
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Dear Tom:
I thought that you might be interested in knowing more about the solutions that I use to pre-treat the flowers prior freeze-drying. I use four basic solutions depending on the type and color of the flower.
Spectra-SetTM is used to stabilize the pigment of the flower. It is mainly used with roses but has also been found useful for other colors like corals, orange, pink and other colors except yellow. The pre-treatment solution contains a polymer base which will resist water reabsorption and promote petal softness and increase durability.
Spectra-Set IITM is a solution that combines the color setting of Spectra-SetTM and a shatter resistance, durability and water resistance properties in one single treatment of the flowers. Special antioxidants are used to prevent browning during the drying process. This solution seems to work well for all color flowers except yellow. This preparation is said to open the cellular structure of the flower in order to permit faster drying and uniform drying.
Spectra-Set IIITM has similar properties as that of the previous two solutions but is prepared mainly for pink and peach colored flowers.
Ultra WhiteTM is a pretreatment that is designed to help brighten white flowers and was developed especially for such flowers as Gardenias and Stephanotis.
As with any solution of this type I had to use protective clothing and glasses. I do my pre-treatment under ventilation to remove any fumes.
For more information concerning these pre-treatment products please visit the following web site
http://www.fleur-chem.com
I hope that information proves helpful to your readers of INSIGHT.
Sincerely,
Maggiie Janassen E-Mail
December 2001
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Response by T. A. Jennings, Ph.D
Thank you Maggiie for the information regarding the pre-treatment solution that you use when drying your flowers and the link to that useful web site.
