MXPA06010766A - Ready-to-eat dry fruit products and process. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides ready-to-eat (RTE), shelf-stable processed foods composed of up to 100% fruit and the system and process for their manufacture. The product, system, and process uses dried fruit in some form as an in-feed material, having a higher moisture content than heretofore has been suitable for extruder in-feed ingredients, thus retaining at least a portion of the natural volatile materials that contribute to taste and aromas. Further, the dried fruit is extruded and can be dried into crispy, crunchy, chewy, or hard particles or pieces high in fruit content that heretofore have been unavailable, and the products and process can be independent of starch and grain based prior technology. The products of the present disclosure can be eaten as healthy snacks or used as high-fruit-content additives in RTE cereals, baking mixes, toppings, and other food products. The process provides a high degree of efficiency and reduced costs.

Description

DRIED FRUIT PRODUCTS READY TO EAT AND PROCEDURE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to food products and food processing. More specifically, the invention relates to ready-to-eat foods with a high fruit content and a manufacturing process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Since Adam and Eve, the fruit has been universally recognized as a highly desirable food. In addition, the need to consume significant amounts of fruit for nutritional purposes is well documented. One reason why people do not consume the recommended amounts of fresh fruit is rotting; the fruit is highly perishable. Therefore, the fruit is typically processed to extend its life by filling it, freezing it or by various evaporative approaches such as sun drying (raisins), hot air drying (dried fruits), freeze drying (blueberries for dry cereals) ); fried (sliced bananas), spray drying (fruit powders) and dehydration at very low humidity (for dry cereals). Each of these procedures has its advantages and disadvantages: sun drying in the desert works well on California apricots but not on Washington apples, Michigan cherries or Florida tomatoes; drying with hot air makes soft fruits lack the toasted texture of fresh fruits and can lead to mold and yeast rot over time; Freeze drying is a good way to dry fruits, but it is very expensive (an order of magnitude greater than fresh fruit weight by weight), limiting it to high margin products or small percentages in food; the frying imparts fat, degrading the nutritional value and flavor to the fruit; spray drying of the fruit, limited mostly to pulp-free juices, requires a vehicle, such as maltodextrin, which limits the content of the fruit. Dehydration at less than 3% moisture depletes volatile flavors and makes a toasted but hygroscopic fruit that quickly absorbs moisture and becomes harsh and hard. The potential to provide other types of fruit products is limited by the processing difficulties associated with fruits compared to other food products. For example, extrusion technology is used extensively throughout the grain processing industry (but not in fruit processing) to cook grain and soy foods because the process is energy efficient, reliable and sanitary. Major industry segments that use extrusion cooking include ready-to-eat cereals, snacks, pet foods, pre-gelled flours, and many others. A cooking extruder is typically a screw machine that accepts powder or free-flowing grain flour as feed material in a spiral screw cavity that is progressively reduced. As the material advances along the screw or multiple screws of the extruder, the fed material is hydrated by the injection of water (for example, 10 to 12% moisture when fed at a moisture of 15 to 30% the mass), and the moistened material is compressed and heated by friction to "cook under pressure" the extrusion mass with the moisture encapsulated as steam. Typically, materials fed by extrusion must be uniformly free flowing and finely granulated, both purity seals of ground grains such as corn flour, wheat or rice flours, etc. In contrast, fruit products (i) are not free flowing, which causes clogging of the fed material (except in too liquid forms for extrusion cooking), (ii) they are often heterogeneous in particle size or granulation , and (iii) are hygroscopic when dried. These characteristics during the 55-year history of food extrusion processing have virtually eliminated the consideration of extrusion cooking when processing fruits. Starches, flours and grain milled products have traditionally been used by experts in the extrusion art to manipulate grain texture and density of foods, such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereals; snacks, such as inflated corn and onion rings; pet food, such as food in dog croquettes; and many other foods. Starches are long-chain carbohydrates that, when gelatinized by extrusion cooking, form films capable of trapping gas (air and vapor) in thin-walled honeycomb structures, aerating the product ("inflating") and reducing the density . In traditional practice, fruit powders have been added in low percentages (for example, Kellogg's® Apple Jacks®) to impart fruit flavors, color or market characteristic to inflated starch based foods. Some limited attempts to use extrusion technology for fruits have been achieved with mixed results. Typically, the fruit content is severely limited, and in some cases eliminated, so the technology is virtually identical to the extrusion cooking of grain without fruit. In such cases, the main ingredients are starches, sugars, gels, gums, flavors and colors, with a small percentage of dry or powdered fruit. The technology to produce food products with high fruit content by extrusion is limited. For example, a recent application of extrusion technology to fruit processing has copied the extrusion practices based on starch and grains associated with the feed material measured in the extruder. The patent of E.U.A. No. 6,027,758 describes a traditional use of starches that are added as gelling agents to control the density and texture of extruded foods, including those composed largely of fruits, the apparent focus of this reference. In a number of pre-extrusion steps, this reference first drums the starting material, fruit puree, up to 6% moisture, creating fruit flakes or coarse granules; then grind the dried fruit solids to a powder form intended for homogeneous dosing, constant in the feed section of an extruder and finally add water or other liquids back to the extruder barrel to facilitate cooking and prevent mechanical damage to the screw extrusion. The approach applies traditional grain extrusion practices (drying the material fed to low humidity, grinding to uniform granulation and then rehydrating in the extrusion cylinder) to a fruit starting material, fruit puree. In one portion, the reference describes a heat effect on gelatinization that is well known in extrusion technology and in many other food processing applications in which carbohydrates are cooked. Starch gelatinization occurs under conditions in which water is combined with a temperature of at least 71.1 ° C, usually with moderate shear stress. When processed below the gelatinization temperature, the starch in the reference fruit product is predictably ungelatinized and the product is dense. As the fruit product exits the extruder, the texture is soft and chewy, like reference gels that have a water activity level of at least 0.58. At higher temperatures, starch gelatinization occurs by the well-known mechanism, forming a film capable of trapping air and vapor. In addition, the reference does not mention the technology or drying equipment to achieve low humidity levels after extrusion, and the reference presents data showing finished products in the humidity range of 19-25%, above three times the upper range for crunchy starch products. The products of the reference are high or intermediate moisture gels similar to those used in common breakfast bars such as Pop Tarts and the like or those with starch content to produce different textures. One problem with this reference that may prevent it from offering a commercially viable approach is that, unlike flours or ground grain products, the powder of dried and ground fruits is hygroscopic, so that it remains free flowing and not sticky only for a short time, and over time tends to accumulate on the side walls of the handling equipment, very notably in the wet feed section of the extruder, inhibiting sanitary and efficient processing. Such hygroscopic feed materials require specialized handling in commercial production equipment and are avoided when possible. To illustrate how the industry deals with the hygroscopic nature of fruit powders, they are typically packaged in small quantities in multilayer laminated film bags that include an aluminum or Mylar sheet or some other absolute vapor barrier that prevents the Atmospheric humidity creates hygroscopic coagulation of fruit powder before use. Therefore, the simple application of an extrusion technology based on starch and grain to the manufacture of products with a high percentage of fruit is not easily suitable for commercial production. In another example of extrusion technology, the patent of E.U.A.

No. 20040022901 mixes specially processed toasted rice that has been manufactured in a traditional application of extrusion technology for cooking rice flour with a non-extruded fruit product. In this case, only the grain fraction, that is, the rice flour is processed by extrusion, while the fruit is simply mixed with the extruded roasted rice. These problems and the solutions tried using extrusion principles based on starch and grain illustrate the need for a new product, system and process for processing high percentage fruits with extrusion technology and which deviates significantly from the previous teachings. Therefore, there is a need for foods with high fruit content produced by extrusion technology from commercially available fruit ingredients that can be practically handled in typical food plant equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present description provides ready-to-eat, ready-to-eat processed foods (RTE) consisting of up to 100% fruit and the system and procedure for its manufacture. The product, system and method uses dried fruits in some form as a feed material, which has a higher moisture content than hitherto has been suitable for feed ingredients in the extruder, thus retaining at least a portion of the juices natural that contribute to the flavor and aromas. In addition, dried fruit is extruded and dried into crisp, chewy or hard particles or pieces with high fruit content that has been available so far, and the products and procedures may be independent of the previous technology based on starch and grain. The products of the present description can be eaten as healthy snacks or used as high-fruit additions in RTE cereals, baking mix, casings and other food products. The procedure provides a high degree of efficiency and reduced costs to make a significant improvement in the technique. The description generally provides, in at least one embodiment, a process for producing ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising: grinding dry fruits into smaller pieces of ground pieces than dried fruits before being ground; Feed the pieces of ground dried fruits as a feed material in an extruder; compress the dried fruit to generate heat; and extruding the fruit material to an extruded fruit product. The description may also provide a method for producing a ready-to-eat food product (RTE) comprising: obtaining a feed material comprising pieces of dried fruit and having a moisture content of 13-30%; feed the feed material in an extruder; compress the dried fruit to generate heat; and extruding the fruit material to an extruded fruit product. The description may further provide a ready-to-eat food product (RTE) comprising an extruded fruit product 100% fruit toasted using a food extruder and having a lower density after extrusion compared to a fruit mass internal to the fruit. extruder The description may further provide an easy to eat food product (RTE), which comprises an extruded fruit product that uses dried fruits as a feed material with a moisture content of 13-30% provided to a food processing extruder. The description also provides, in at least one embodiment, a system for preparing a ready-to-eat food product (RTE) comprising: a supply of dried fruits; a cutter mill coupled to the supply of dried fruits; and a food processing extruder coupled to the mill with cutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more particular description, summarized briefly before, by reference to the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, may form part of the present specification and be described herein. However, it should be noted that the attached drawings illustrate only some modalities described herein and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the description, since they can be equally effective modalities. Figures 1A-1 D illustrate four non-limiting forms of high fruit content food products that can be produced in accordance with the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a system for producing high fruit content food products. Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of a system alternative shown in Figure 2. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative food processing extruder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure provides a solution to the hitherto conflicting interests of providing a high percentage of fruit feedstock for a food extruder while avoiding hygroscopic feedstock fruit materials from previous efforts. The present disclosure avoids hygroscopic challenges by providing a "wetter" feed fruit material, more suited to an extrusion process, while still providing the fruit materials in a form that is appropriate for the extrusion process. The product and process advantageously avoid the requirements of drying, grinding to a powder and rehydrating a fruit feed material prior to extrusion, while alleviating the special handling problems associated with a hygroscopic fruit feed typified in dried fruit powder. The description includes a product, system and procedure. More broadly, the description comprises a family of nutritious fruit foods and a manufacturing system and process comprised of a series of specific process steps necessary to make fruit foods. Fruit foods can be made up of 100% of an individual fruit ingredient; or fruit foods may be composed of 100% of a combination of several fruit ingredients; or the fruit foods may be composed of fruit ingredients co-processed with other non-fruit ingredients, such that the fruit ingredients comprise at least one third (33%) by weight of all the ingredients, advantageously by at least 75%, and most advantageously at least 90%. The manufacturing process is a series of sequential steps in which dried fruits or dried fruit with other ingredients are mixed, homogenized, extruded, dried, sized and packaged. The description includes (1) a new category of fruit foods; and (2) a practical system and method of manufacturing these processed fruit foods. The description provides, first, a new category of unique food products composed mostly of fruits (up to 100%) and other food ingredients and modalized in various dry or semi-moist physical forms; and second, a system and method for manufacturing the various fruit products by orderly execution of the process steps that transform the dried fruit and other starting ingredients into the finished processed fruit food. The products of the invention can be variously described as a shelf stable food ready to be eaten toasted, crispy, chewy or hard composed entirely or mostly of fruit. The process of the invention can be described as a series of sequential processing events, including a constant presentation of the homogeneous ingredient (s) to a high pressure / high temperature extrusion processor, followed by heat drying, milling and stiffening for sizing , and packaging in a vapor barrier to prevent the hygroscopic absorption of moisture from ambient air to the food product. For the purpose of the present description, the following terms and their meanings may help to understand the description. The term "product moisture" includes the weight of water in the product in relation to the weight of dry material, expressed as a percent. The moisture content is usually determined by weighing a sample, then drying it under vacuum and heat, and rewetting the mixture to achieve moisture loss in accordance with a procedure standardized by the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (Association of Official Analytical Chemists, AOAC). 934.06 for dried fruit. The term "Water activity" ("Aw") is directly but not linearly related to humidity and can be thought of practically as relative humidity within a product. "AW" measures the vapor pressure of moisture in a hygroscopic material at a specific temperature, expressed as follows: Aw = p / ps and% humidity = 100 (Aw) where: p = partial pressure of water vapor of the product, and ps = partial pressure (sarturing) of water vapor of pure water. In food, water activity is very often used as an expression of the available moisture to support microbiological growth. Most bacteria require an Aw of at least 0. 91 and most molds require at least 0.80, although a few osmophilic microorganisms can live as low as 0.60.

The term "hygroscopic" characterizes dry materials that tend to absorb water usually from the air. Desiccators are hygroscopic materials designed to absorb moisture from a product in a coed space, thus keeping the product dry while raising the humidity level of the desiccator. Foods that are hygroscopic tend to absorb moisture from the air or to redistribute moisture in heterogeneous foods, eg, sun-dried raisins that transfer moisture to hygroscopic bran flakes, resulting in hard raisins and stable bran flakes. A "gel" is a semi-rigid solid mass, a colloidal suspension composed of a liquid phase and a solid phase in which the liquid molecules have been absorbed into the solid molecules. Figures 1A-1 D illustrate four non-limiting forms of high fruit content food products that can be produced in accordance with the present disclosure and will be described in conjunction with each other. The shapes, textures and physical properties may vary and the following are simply illustrative. For example, a fruit product 10A can be formed from the present invention as a wafer or flake with a crunchy or toasted texture. Until now, a disc or slice of fruit in this sample would be tough and hard to chew, giving less pleasure and motivation to swallow. A second illustrative fruit product 10B may be a granulated food product of various granulations: from fine granules, such as a granular sweetener composed of sweet fruits such as Fuji apple, sprinkled on other foods; to larger granules, such as breakfast pieces served in a bowl of milk, simulating the appearance and texture of Grape-Nuts® Post® cereal (which, despite its name, is composed of barley and not grapes); to larger amorphous lumps, as would be appropriate for a hard snack or strip food. The texture can vary and in general the product with high fruit content can be toasted or crispy to add its appearance as food, although in some modalities it can be soft and chewy or hard like caramel. The term "toasted" is illustrated by inflated snacks of Cheetos® cheese, potato wafers, and puffed rice, and defined as firm but easily broken or chopped. For the purposes of the present, the term "toasted" is illustrated by foods such as Grape-Nuts brand Post® cereal, granola lumps and croutons. The term "hard" is illustrated by hard candy, such as LifeSavers® brittle peanut candies and crushed ice. The term "chewable" is illustrated by chews, chocolate candies of the brands Nabisco® Fig Newtons® and Tootsie Roll®. A third illustrative fruit product 10C could be a purified fruit product similar to the shape and size of inflated Cheetos cheese cheeses. This shape could vary from spherical to cylindrical. A fourth illustrative 10D fruit product could be a donut-shaped product of various sizes from a size of a dime or smaller to a disc the size of a larger donut or other sizes as they might be suitable for the market.

The fruit products of the description which are composed of 100% fruit can be formulated from a single fruit (e.g., dried apple); or of mixtures that combine a single fruit with a fruit fraction of the same fruit (e.g., dried apple and dried apple pulp); or of one or more fruits combined with fractions of a different fruit (eg, dried apricot and dried apple and optionally combined with a dried fruit pulp). In addition to the formulations processed completely from pieces of dried fruits (eg, pieces of dried apple) or completely dried ground fruits (eg., dried ground apples), or a combination of pieces of dried fruit and dried ground fruit, other formulations that include edible fruit fractions (eg, dried apple pulp or dried apple juice powder or mashed potato powder). dried apple) can be created to make a processed food product that is 100% fruit. These combinations of dried fruits and dried fruit fractions can be incorporated into a formulation to achieve certain functional properties, such as increased fruit fiber content, increased flavor or increased color levels, cost containment, etc. In at least one modality, a dried fruit product can be made from 100% fruit composed of a single dried fruit or mixtures of several dried fruits or mixtures of dried fruits and dried fruit fractions in its various forms physical The term "dried ground fruits" as a subset of dried fruit is intended to include the homogenized fruit tissue of the dried fruit with or without the peel of fruit and small seeds depending on the fruit, and less the stems, bones and large seeds to the technological degree possible. The term "dried fruit pulp" is meant to indicate the fraction of fruit remaining after the fruit juice is pressed from the fruits and the residual fruit solids are dried to a powder with a moisture content of about 5%. The term "dried fruit powder" is intended to include dry fruit solids derived from fruit puree or powdered fruit juice and sifted to a fine powder with moisture of less than 3.5%. Other fruit products of the invention may contain less than 100% fruit, ie formulations composed of (1) dried fruit or combinations of various types of dried fruit or dried fruit fractions in their various physical forms as the ingredient (s) of primary feed and (2) one of more ingredients that are not fruit. The various non-fruit ingredients can be mixed dry with the dried fruit before extrusion and processed as a mixture of fruit and non-fruit ingredients to achieve certain product characteristics, such as sweetening levels, texture effects, intensities of color, aromas and other characteristics. A partial list of these ingredients that are not functional fruit includes: dry or liquid sweeteners (e.g., fine granulated sugar), texture stabilizers (eg, wheat starch or rice flour), nutrition enhancers ( v.gr., proteins, vitamins, minerals), colors, flavors and other food grade ingredients and food additives. For example, a fruit food product may be composed of (1) fruit and / or fruit fractions in sufficient quantity so that the sum of the fruit components equals at least one third of the fruit product. In this description, a starting material is food grade dry pieces of intact fruit tissue known as "dried fruit" or "evaporated fruit", such as, for example, dried apple or dried apricot. The dried fruit is an industrial and retail ingredient easily available in various physical forms and specifications in the world market. The fruit is dried after harvesting at a moisture level consistent with preservation for at least one year when stored in a dry cellar at a temperature or at cold storage temperatures. The actual moisture level in dried fruit depends on the individual fruit, the level of soluble solids in the fruit, the presence or absence of added chemical or osmotic preservatives, and other factors. However, in general, dried fruit has a moisture range between 13 and 30%. Dehydration of fruit after harvest works as a physical preservative to strongly inhibit the subsequent maturation and growth degradation of microorganisms, especially yeasts and molds. In the market, dried fruit is offered variously with or are sulfur dioxide (S02) a food additive that ensures retention of flavor and color in the dried fruit and which is largely dissipated by the processing of this invention. That dissipation through processing of this description is important because some people may experience allergic respiratory failure when exposed to sulfur dioxide levels above their symptomatic threshold. In the manufacture of these processed products made of up to 100% fruit, the dried fruit is fed directly to the extrusion processor, either in the feed section of the extruder or to a conditioning cylinder before the feeding section or to other equipment upstream. Unlike the prior art, the use of dried fruit eliminates (1) the additional steps required for drying, crushing and sieving drum-dried fruit mash before extrusion processing, (2) the imminent loss of volatile flavor component. associated with drying and grinding, (3) sanitation and equipment processing challenges associated with handling a highly hygroscopic food ingredient, and (4) rehydrating the dried mash within the extruder with added water or other liquids not native to the original fruit . In at least one embodiment, the dried fruit is finely chopped and divided into a generally continuous homogenous feed material. This step is accomplished by passing the dried fruit through a Urschel ™ mill, crusher that has a cutter or other cutter mill. A "cutter mill" and the contextual term "mill" (and corresponding "cutter mill" method) is broadly defined to include any device that can cut and degrade the cellular structure of dried fruit pieces into finely divided fruit, thereby helping to ensure the extrusion of a fine, homogeneous feed material that results in a homogeneous output material (extruded product) in the extrusion die. Since some extruders in the extrusion process are inefficient mills, the insertion of a cutter mill to create a ground, homogenized, dried fruit as the feedstock is preferable for feeding evaporated fruit pieces or similar small pieces of intact fruit tissue in the feed of the extruder. An additional advantage is that you can use dried fruit of any size or configuration (complete, sliced or chopped). The use of a cutter mill to feed the extruder produces a homogeneous extruded product which, when dried at very low humidity, makes a toasted, crunchy or hard piece, fruit crumb or granule. In contrast, the direct extrusion without crushing of pieces of dried fruit, such as pieces of dried fruit with its intact cell matrix, can lead to heterogeneous extruded material containing intact pieces of dried fruit embedded in a matrix of partially ground fruit. Said intact pieces of fruit, when dried, produce a rough, elastic or hard piece of fruit having a texture significantly different from that of the roasted, crunchy or hard fruit matrix of the present disclosure. Alternatively, it is possible to configure the tool, such as screws of an extruder with a cutting section to function as a cutter mill, in order to homogenize the smooth structure of the dried fruit pieces to create a substantially homogeneous fruit mass within the Initial segments of a long cylinder extruder. The cutting section would generally be located in the early stages or cylinders of the extruder between the feed screw and the extrusion stages. Therefore, the cutter mill becomes integral to the extruder. Said extruder configuration allows the feeding of dry fruit pieces or pieces directly into an extruder feed throat without first passing the pieces of dried fruit through a grinding step before entering the extruder. The mass of crushed fruit thus created in the initial extrusion cylinders proceeds through the pressurization and heating segments of the extruder in an extrusion process and through an extrusion die, extruding an inflated or slightly expanded porous fruit product substantially free of intact, distinct fragments of dried fruit. Another practical starting material of the invention is industrial ground dried fruit. In the commercially available fruit, such as apple, the ground fruit is manufactured (1) by cleaning, peeling and removing the center of the fruit; (2) drying the pieces of fruit at a suitably low humidity (approximately 24% moisture for apples) to preserve the fruit in a free-standing mode at cold temperatures; and (3) extrude the dehydrated pieces through a hole (given) in a machine similar to the meat grinder, altering the cellular structure of the fruit and creating somewhat sticky pieces of fruit. In some pieces of fruit such as apricot, the fruit is extracted bone but not removed the shell. In other pieces of fruit such as raisins, the husk and small seeds can be included. Commercial fruit pieces take many physical forms, including strips in the form of spaghetti or fruit pulp or fruit pulp with finely divided particles (e.g., peel or small seeds).

In this description, the extrusion of 100% fruit pieces results in a uniform homogenized extruded product which is then dried to a crispy or toasted dry RTE fruit, such as an amorphous bulging fruit snack; or granules of fruit to be mixed in dry foods, such as RTE cereals or granola bars; or granules of fine fruit or fine fruit powders used as aggregates sprinkled with fruit or fruit flavorings. By using pieces of fruit as the starting material, the following is avoided: (1) the requirement in the prior art for drying, shredding, sieving and rehydration of additional fruit puree to extrude 100% fruit foods, and (2) the requirement to pass the dried fruit starting material through any crushing step before extrusion. Another practical starting material is fruit infused with sweetener, such as sucrose or corn syrups. Some fruits, such as blueberries or cranberries are available in the market in the infused form instead of or in addition to a form of dry, nonfused fruit. In some cases, the use of dried pieces of intact fruit tissue (dried fruit) is preferable to pieces of fruit as a starting material because the pieces of fruit are free-flowing and less likely to stick to the fruit. production team. However, pieces of dried fruit, with their cell structure largely intact, require additional crushing before extrusion to alter the cell structure and to minimize the amount of individual fruit particles that tend to survive the extrusion process and leave the die as intact dried fruit particles embedded in the extruded matrix. The insertion of a mill in the processing line to crush the dried fruit into pieces of finely divided fruit in advance of the extrusion step allows the direct use of the dried fruit as a starting ingredient. Especially in the case of fruit products composed of 100% fruit tissue, the advantage of finely divided fruit on pieces of dried fruit is that the first is free flowing and easier to handle in the industrial equipment. In other cases in which the dried fruit is mixed with other dry fruit ingredients, eg, pieces of apple mixed with apple pulp, the use of apple pieces may be preferable because the pieces are coated with the Other dry ingredients in the mixing step, making the free flow chunks in the feed passage while eliminating the need to use direct cutter mill. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a system and method for producing high fruit content food products. Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of an alternative of the system shown in Figure 2 and will be described in conjunction with Figure 2. As described herein, different pieces of equipment can be used depending on the starting point of the materials and the desired shape of the finished product. Therefore, the illustrative modality can be varied and the illustration is not intended to limit the alternatives. The illustrative system 2 represents a production line and includes a supply of fruit, a supply of ingredient that is not optional fruit, a mixer that depends on the materials, a cutter mill that depends on the type of fruit supplied, a corrugated hopper, a extruder, a dryer, a roller mill that depends on the shape of the desired product, a sieve that depends on the desired product and an optional packer. Each piece of equipment will be described below. The fruit supply 12 may include a supply of fruit products as described herein. In at least one embodiment, the fruit supply may include pieces of dried fruit in various sizes. In some embodiments, the supply of fruit 12 may represent a plurality of fruit supplies of different fruit, pieces of different size and shape, and different types of fruit forms such as pieces of fruit and fruit fibers. The fruit supply 12 can be coupled to a mixer 16. The term "coupled", "coupling", and similar terms are widely used herein and can include any method or device for communicating, fixing, binding, inserting therein, forming on the same or in the same, secure, bind, bind, adjust or otherwise associate, for example, mechanically, magnetically, electrically, chemically, directly or indirectly with intermediate elements, one or more pieces of members together and can also integrally include forming one functional member with another. The mixer 16 can be useful if other materials besides a single source of fruit are to be used to produce the product. Alternatively, a fruit source that does not need a mixer can deviate from the mixer and perhaps the corrugated hopper 18 and proceed to the mill 20, described later. These other materials can be different fruits or different fruit forms, such as pieces or fiber, from the fruit supply 12, or materials that are not fruit from a supply other than fruit 14. The mixer 16 can be used to mix in the Feeding material to provide a relatively homogeneous mixture in those modalities where multiple food products are used (products with a plurality of fruits or products with portions of fruits and non-fruit ingredients). Without limitation, any general food grade batten mixer, paddle mixer, V-shaped mixer or other design that produces a homogenous mix can be used. In some embodiments, the non-fruit supply 14 may supply materials that are to be mixed with the fruit in the mixer 16. As used herein, non-fruit materials may help achieve certain product characteristics, such as levels of sweetening, texture effects, color intensities, etc. In at least one embodiment, it may be advantageous to include a corrugated hopper 18 that can be coupled to the mixer 16, if used. The corrugated hopper 18 can receive the mixer materials to provide a buffer in the production line, so that the mill, if used, and the extruder can receive substantially continuous material flow. The corrugated hopper 18 can be coupled to the mill 20. In at least one embodiment, the mill 20 can include a Urschel ™ mill or similar mill to degrade the cellular structure of the pieces of dried fruit into finely divided fruit, thus ensuring the extrusion of a fine, homogeneous feed material. Although the term "mill" is widely used in the food processing industry and generally includes several types of processing, the type of mill used to process the dried fruit feed in this description is used more distinctly to refer to the mill cutter , unlike the crusher or roller mill. A grinder mill used in the prior art to grind grain into flour or to reduce fruit flakes and granules of very low moisture to fruit powder would not be suitable for the relatively high moisture content of the dried fruit. The use of a cutter mill for fruit feed processing has not been provided before the present invention to prepare feed material for processing in the extruder. Urschel mills as illustrative cutter mills are typically used to slice, cube or homogenise fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, meats, nuts and peanuts, and other soft or moist foods that tend to stick and soil the roller mills, friction or hammers. The various cutting heads of a cutter mill can be selected to produce pieces of different size, as desired. The insertion of a cutter mill to create a ground dry fruit, homogenized, as the feedstock is preferable for feeding evaporated fruit cubes or similar small pieces of intact fruit tissue in the extruder feed because in general the extruders are designed to receive more than to generate homogenous material for processing. An additional advantage is that dried fruit of any size or customary configuration (complete, sliced or cubed) can be used to feed the mill. The use of a cutter mill to feed the extruder generally produces a substantially homogeneous extruded material. Alternatively, if a supply of fruit, such as pieces of fruit, does not require milling, then the mill can be bypassed or removed from the system and a 12A fruit supply can provide the fruit to the mixer, if other materials are to be added to the mixer. the fruit as a material for feeding the extruder. In addition, if the fruit supply does not need to be ground, such as pieces of fruit, and is otherwise a homogeneous supply, for example, composed of a single fruit then the mill and mixer can be bypassed or removed from the system and a supply of fruit 12B can supply the fruit for the feed material to the extruder. The present description strongly contrasts with traditional extrusion processes. To extrude fruit, traditional technology starts with fruit powder fed to the extruder to create a homogeneous mass. The technologists, in this way, have dried the fruit mash to a powder by means of various drying, grinding and sieving technologies, and then added water to the extruder to create a homogeneous mass. The typical approach has adopted traditional extrusion technology in which field grain, eg, corn, is dried, ground into flour, sieved and hydrated into a dough within the extruder. Traditional feed extruders have been fed by sources of finely grained dry-flowing starch, such as flours and fine-grained powders. The typical approach has adopted this grain-based technology for fruit extrusions by supplying dried fruit powder to an extruder, not large pieces of wet or intermediate moisture ingredients existing in "dried fruits" that have a moisture content greater than fruit powder. That typical approach applied to the fruit has been followed even when (1) the drying of fruit at about 5% moisture or less as feed powder fruit material before the extrusion dissipates volatile flavors and aromas and wastes energy; and (2) fruit powders are hygroscopic so that their use as food ingredients is problematic and impractical under typical extrusion processing conditions. Therefore, without the current description, the innovation in fruit extrusion continues to be anchored in the traditional grain-based approach of drying, crushing to a powder, sieving, extruder supply, and rehydration in the extruder. Perhaps the use of pieces of dried fruit has been avoided because the extrusion process is generally very inefficient in a milling, inefficient to reduce pieces of fruit to a homogeneous fruit mass, and the resulting heterogeneous exudate dries to a leathery texture non-palatable similar to those of pieces of fruit dissected at 5% moisture or less without the texturing benefits of extrusion processing. In at least one embodiment, the description provides the relatively "wet" slicing and milling of pieces of dried fruit. The crushing with cutter is important to break the fruit pulp to allow the formation of a homogenous extrusion fruit mass. Pieces of dried fruits of any size can be dosed into the cutter mill equipped with an appropriate fine cutting head, then continuously discharged into the processing line or directly into the feed section of an extruder. Compared to fruit powder, pieces of dried fruit receive less drying and grinding, thus preserving volatile flavor and aroma. The dried fruit is easy to handle in processing equipment and only slightly hygroscopic because its moisture content (13 - 30%) is much higher than fruit powder at 5% or less. The mill 20 can be coupled to the extruder 22 to provide the materials thereof. The extruder 22 is generally a continuous high-temperature / short-time pressure cooking apparatus in which, in the presence of moisture, an Archimedes screw mixes and compresses starting material into a mass of fruit and generates heat by friction, shear stress and pressure to cook the fruit mass. The extruder can then extrude the fruit mass through a restrictive orifice back to atmospheric pressure to form an extruded material with a porous structure. As described above, the cutter mill 20 and the extruder 22 can be combined in an integrated unit 21, such as a long cylinder extruder. The cutting section would generally be located in the early extruder cylinders between the feed screw and the extrusion stages. Said extruder configuration allows the feeding of cubes or dried fruit pieces directly into a feed throat of the extruder without first passing the dried fruit pieces through a grinding step before entering the extruder. The last stages of the extruder are used in the extrusion process to extrude the fruit mass as described herein. Referring briefly to Figure 3, a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an illustrative food processing extruder is shown. An extruder 14 can be a single screw extruder (as illustrated) or a multiple screw extruder (such as twin screws). Depending on the application, size, shape and quantity, each type has advantages and disadvantages. Generally, twin screw technology is more versatile, while individual screw technology is less expensive. The extruder 14 may have a variable number of sections 33 (also known as "cylinders" or "heads") through which an extruder screw 32 rotates. The extruder screw 32 generally has several diameters, pitch, depth of flight and other design criteria to process the feed material from the entrance to the exit. Regardless of the number of heads, in general, the extruder 14 includes an inlet 28 in which it is loaded the material that has to be processed. A first cylinder section is called a "feed" section 34 that accepts the feed material in the processing portion of the extruder together with the screw of the extruder. The feeding section is generally at ambient temperature and pressure. The next section is called a transition section 36 because the granulated or particulate feed material is converted to a homogenous melt fruit mass. The feeding material is compressed through a change in the passage, diameter or other design criteria of the screw. The transition section 36 operates at a high temperature of about 30-70 ° C. A next section is called a cooking section 38 that creates heat by friction, shear, and compression that raises the material to approximately 70-130 ° C. The material is extruded as an extruded product through an outlet 40 and generally through a die 42 to configure the extruded product and cut through a cutter 44 into desired pieces. To maintain constant cooking, the food extruders operate under constant state conditions, with the amount of input of starting material equal to the output of product at any given time. Accordingly, the smooth flowability of the starting material, i.e., a constant feed rate towards the feed screw slots of the extruder, is required for optimum performance. The hygroscopic feed materials can create interruptions and inhibit the uniform flow capacity by accumulating on surfaces of equipment, create breakage, lumps with high humidity that destabilizes or eventually prevent the extrusion feed. The solution offered by the present disclosure provides a high percentage of the fruit feed material while avoiding the hygroscopic feeding of fruit materials from previous efforts. The present disclosure provides a more "moist" feed fruit material more suitable for forming fruit dough in an extruder process, while still providing the fruit materials in a form that is appropriate to the extrusion process. The procedure offers the following advantages over current technology: 1. 100% fruit or fruit mixed with other ingredients that can be fed directly to the extruder, greatly simplifying the current technology that requires (a) drying fruit puree on a roll flanking at a moisture level of 5% or less (b) grinding and sifting the resulting dry fruit pieces or pieces, reducing them to a powder form and (c) rehydrating the powder in the extruder. 2. Direct feeding of the dried fruit to the extruder by a Urschel mill or similar, or the direct feeding of fruit pieces greatly simplifies the handling of the fruit because the dried fruit is only slightly hygroscopic, whereas the Fruit powder (5% moisture or less) is very hygroscopic, requiring dehumidified plant air or limited exposure to atmospheric air or special equipment to deal with cake formation, peeling and blocking problems associated with hygroscopic ingredients. 3. Dry fruit pieces retain much more of their own fruit juice (13 to 30%) with their flavor and aroma components than dry fruit powder (5%). For processing, the dried fruit powder is rehydrated in the extruder with water and some other liquid, while the dried fruit can be processed by extrusion using the own fruit juice alone. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 2A, the supply of non-fruit ingredients 14 may provide the non-fruit ingredients, such as flour and sugar, to mixer 16 for mixing. The mixed materials can be stored in the corrugated hopper 18, and dosed in an extruder preconditioner of the extruder 22. Further, the supply of non-fruit ingredients can be directly supplied to the corrugated hopper 18, for example, if the mixer 16 is unnecessary, or can be fed even directly to the extruder 22. Similarly, the fruit can be fed to a corrugated hopper 18A, then to the mill 20 and to the extruder 22 from the mill 20. Referring to Fig. 2, after the Extruder 22, the extruded product may be dried at a selected level in a dryer 24, such as a hot air dryer, such as a pre-finished food product. The product leaving the dryer may have a moisture content of less than about 10% and advantageously less than about 6%. The activity of the water may be less than about 0.55 and advantageously less than about 0.3. In at least one modality, the extruded material is hot from the extrusion die and can be distributed evenly over the band of a hot air dryer. Another dryer that can be used is a fluidized bed dryer that passes a gas (generally air) through a product layer under controlled speed conditions to create a fluidized state of the product and increase exposure to the gas. Another dryer that can be used is a freeze dryer with an increased efficiency over conventional freeze drying of fruit due to the expanded nature and low density of the food product described herein. The product can be discharged from the dryer at the desired humidity by varying the temperature and residence time in the dryer. Generally, the texture of the product will be specified to be hard (like hard candy) or crunchy (like Grape-Nuts® Post® cereal) or toasted (like corn flakes) or chewy (like chewy), unlike fruit products gelled from higher humidity that are not dried. For some products, a mill 26, such as a roller mill or other milling technology (generally not a cutter mill that cuts the products before the extrusion process as referenced above), can be used after the dryer to reduce the particle size of the extruded material at the desired range. A screen 28 can be used to sift the extruded material to certain sizes for final packaging.

A packer 30 can package the product in a variety of soft and hard containers, including weather-resistant packaging and can also include controlled atmosphere or vacuum processing. The following procedure is described as at least one illustrative, non-limiting mode, since the description provides multiple variations and others known to those skilled in the art, given the present description: a 100% fruit feed material from pieces of Dry fruit of a single ingredient is fed to a Urschel ™ brand mill equipped with a cutting head thin enough to reduce dry fruit pieces to pieces of crushed dried fruit, thereby partially disrupting the physical structure of the fruit. The feeding speed in the mill is set at a constant speed equal to the output speed of the production line. The mill discharges crushed dry fruit pieces directly to the feed section of the extrusion processor, which is operated under conditions to create a slight aeration or inflation of the extruded material. The extruded material is continuously fed to a dryer, where moisture is reduced as desired below a water activity of less than 0.55, and the finished product is sized and packed. Alternatively, to make a product of the invention containing 100% fruit composed of more than one dried fruit ingredient, a mixing step is inserted before the cutter mill to create a uniform feed.

In addition, to make a product of the invention containing less than 100% fruit, the ingredients can be mixed before the extrusion feed step. The pieces of dried fruit can be used for blends in which the pieces represent 80% or more of the mixed formulation because the stratification or segregation of ingredients by size (density) is not problematic in this range. With dry fruit concentrations between one third and 80%, the mixing techniques well known in the art are used to maintain a homogeneous mixture. Although the percentage of dried fruit may vary in the finished product depending on the desired market, it is contemplated that the product will contain at least one third of fruit, generally at least 40%, advantageously at least 75% and in some embodiments 100 % of fruit. The fruit food product is extruded at high pressures (generally 7.03 to 105.45 kg / cm2 in the die) and elevated temperatures (generally 70 ° to 130 ° C in the die) to reduce the density of the product (ie, to inflate the extruded material) below that of the fruit mass material within the extruder and to greatly increase the total product surface area (both internally and externally) by creating a honeycomb, fine, porous internal structure, and an expanded global product volume. This honeycomb structure achieves several physical functions including: (1) facilitating the drying of extruded material by expanding the surface area of the product internally and externally, allowing increased hot air contact with the product; (2) create a honeycomb structure that has a multitude of thin walls, making the texture of the dry product lighter and crisper to the bite; (3) increase the volume of the product for increased visual impact. In formulations with less than 100% fruit in which starches or flours are mixed with fruit before extrusion, in an extrusion processor it cooks (gelatinizes) the starting starches, creating a carbohydrate film (matrix) that facilitates entrapment of steam and air inside the extruded material thus facilitating a greater volume expansion and a final texture smoothness of the dried finished fruit product. An additional advantage of the extrusion processing of the incoming food ingredients (dried fruit and non-fruit ingredients) at these high pressures and temperatures is high temperature / short time pasteurization (HTST)., which occurs as the fruit feed passes through the extruder and exits the die, greatly reducing the microbiological flora to very low levels for increased feed safety and storage stability. This margin of food safety is especially significant in RTE foods that are consumed directly without a cooking step that intervenes at the consumer level.

EXAMPLES The technology described here is applicable to many different categories of existing or potential fruit products. In general, any application in which a texture of toasted or crispy fruit and flavor are desirable, either individually or as an incorporated ingredient, can be made with the described technology. Some broad applications include: confectionery, ready-to-eat dry breakfast foods, snacks, pastry applications, small pieces to splash and others. Without limitation, some examples are given below.

EXAMPLE 1 Crunchy apple candy, 100% apple Commercially available sweet apple juices (approximately 29% of natural sugars, Fuji variety) were fed at a continuous speed in a Urschel 1700 Comitrol mill equipped with a fine M-style cutting head to reduce juices to pieces of finely divided apple pulp. They flow through a conduit directly into the feed throat of a 5-screw single-screw extruder equipped with high-pressure screws, a pressure plate and restrictive die openings to increase extrusion back pressure. No liquids are added; Apple's own juice in dried apples that have 26% residual moisture provided adequate moisture for the extrusion process. From the feed to the die, the temperatures in the extrusion heads increased steadily from room temperature in the feed section to 130 ° C in the die. The extruded material was sliced on the face of the die in amorphous lumps of approximately 1 cm in diameter and transported to a continuous forced air tray dryer at 82 ° C for 60 minutes. Drying at 3% moisture concentrated the fruit's own sugars to approximately 75% sucrose equivalent, creating crunchy pieces of caramel with an intensely sweet natural apple flavor made from 100% apple. The water activity was 0.30. The small portions of apple candy were immediately packed in polyester film to prevent absorption of moisture from the air.

EXAMPLE 2 Breakfast food of granulated apple, 100% apple Three commercial apple sources: Granny Smith sour apple juices, Fuji variety sweet apple slices and granulated apple fiber, can be mixed in a ribbon mixer for 2 minutes at 50%, 45% and 5% proportions. %, respectively. The mixture was dosed in a Urschel 1700 Comitrol mill with a fine M-style cutting head, then directly in the feeding section of a single-screw extruder described in example 1. The mixture can be processed under the same extrusion conditions and the same drying conditions as in example 1. The dried product leaving the dryer can be milled in a roller mill and sieved, and the fraction falling through a standard US sieve. # 4 but that remains above a standard U.S. # 8 retained for finished product packaging. The coarse particles remaining in the upper part of sieve # 4 can be recirculated to the roller mill to be re-crushed, and fine powders falling through sieve # 8 can be returned to the mixer and reprocessed. The moisture content is expected to be 5% with an Aw of 0.29. The resulting golden brown crisp apple granules resemble Post® Grape-Nuts® cereal in appearance and texture, and can be served in a bowl with reduced-fat milk as part of a healthy, light breakfast. A portion of 28.3 g equals apple solids in a medium-sized apple (113.2-141.5 g).

EXAMPLE 3 Inflated blueberry ball snack Commercially available dried cranberry juices (advantageously not infused in sugar) can be dosed in a Urschel mill equipped with a fine M-style cutting head and fed directly into the preconditioner of a single screw extruder. Simultaneously, rice flour can be added to 20% of the cranberry regime and the two ingredients can be mixed in the preconditioner of the extruder and fed directly to the feed throat of a single screw extruder, with water added in the first cylinder ( feeding section) to moisten the rice flour, creating within the extruder a homogeneous fruit mass composed of fruit and rice flour. The extruded material can be cut into an approximately spherical inflated extruded material and dried in a continuous forced air tray dryer at 82 ° C for 20 minutes to a maximum 5% humidity. The 1.27 cm diameter spheres are expected to have a crunchy texture that has an expected density of approximately 224 grams / liter, and a natural light red color and sweet cranberry flavor. In the finished inflated product, the equivalent dry fruit content is expected to be approximately 48%.

EXAMPLE 4 Inflated product of blueberry Commercially available dried blueberries (advantageously not infused in sugar) can be processed as in example 3. However, they can be cut into puffed, crispy, hard inflated spheres as an extruded material of about 0.47 cm in diameter for use in pancakes, breads and bakery mixes. donuts instead of blueberries dried by expensive freezing or to replace artificial blueberry tablets with a real fruit product.

EXAMPLE 5 Small pieces for apple splashing Apple pieces (90%) were mixed with rice flour and / or apple fiber (10%) to coat the apple pieces with flour or fiber and improve their flowability and to reduce the density of the finished product. The mixture was processed as described in Example 1, except that the fruit leaving the dryer at 5% humidity was milled and sieved through a U.S. # 10. The roasted apple granules were packed in a can with a closable agitator and splashed on salads, meat, ice cream and other foods. Although the foregoing is directed to several modalities of the present invention, other and additional modalities may be contemplated without departing from the basic scope thereof. Other embodiments within the scope of the claims herein will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention as described herein. For example, the high-fruit food product can be mixed or made into other food products. It is intended that the specification, together with the example, be considered to be illustrative only, with the scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. The various methods and embodiments of the invention may be included in combination with one another to produce variations of the described methods and embodiments, as would be understood by one skilled in the art, given the knowledge provided herein. Also, various aspects of the modalities could be used together with others to achieve the understood goals of the invention. Also, addresses such as "up", "down", "left", "right", "upper", "lower" and other directions and orientations are described here for clarity with reference to the appended figures and should not be limiting of the actual device or system or use of the device or system. Unless otherwise required by the context, the word "comprises" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", it must be understood that it implies the inclusion of at least the established element or step or group of elements or steps or equivalents thereof, and not the exclusion of a larger numerical quantity or any other element or step or group of elements or steps or equivalents thereof. The device or system can be used in a number of directions and orientations. In addition, the order of steps may occur in a variety of sequences unless otherwise specifically limited. The various steps described here can be combined with other steps, interspersed with the steps established, and / or divided into multiple steps.

In addition, the headings herein are for the reader's convenience and should not be considered to limit the scope of the invention. In addition, any references mentioned in the application for this patent as well as all references listed in the description of information originally filed with the application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to the extent that they should be considered essential to support the capability of the invention. . However, to the extent that the statements could be considered inconsistent with the patentability of the invention, it is not expressly intended that said statements be considered as facts by the applicant.

Claims (1)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMING 1. - A process for producing a ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising: a) grinding dried fruits into smaller pieces of ground than dry fruits before being ground; b) feeding the pieces of ground dried fruits as a feedstock in an extruder; c) compress the dried fruit to generate heat; and d) extruding the fruit material to an extruded fruit product. 2. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises expanding the fruit extrudate. 3. The process according to claim 2, further characterized in that it comprises producing an extruded product having a density less than a mass of fruit internal to the extruder. 4. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a moisture content of less than 10%. 5. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a moisture content of less than 6%. 6. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.55. 7. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a level of Aw of less than 0.4. 8. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that the feed material comprises dried fruit with a moisture content of 13-30%. 9. The process according to claim 8, further characterized in that the feed material comprises 100% dried fruit. 10. The method according to claim 8, further characterized in that the feedstock comprises 75-100% dried fruit. 11. The process according to claim 8, further characterized in that the feed material comprises at least one third of dried fruit. 12. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that an extruded product portion comprises pieces of fruit, fruit pulp or a combination thereof. 13. The process according to claim 12, further characterized in that it comprises a minority portion of the extruded product comprising a fruit powder or a fruit puree. 14. - The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises milling the extruded product to a size, shape or combination thereof after extrusion. 15. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the extruded product is screened to allow a predetermined size of extruded product to be provided for further processing. 16. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises sifting the extruded product through a standard U.S: # 4 screen but not through a standard U.S: # 8 screen. 17. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises sifting the extruded product through a U.S: # 8 standard screen. 18. The process according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises producing a hard extruded product. 19. A process for producing a ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising: a) obtaining a feed material comprising pieces of dried fruit and having a moisture content of 13-30%; b) feeding the feed material in an extruder; c) compress the dried fruit to generate heat; and d) extruding the fruit material to an extruded fruit product. 20. The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises coating the feeding material with a fruit pulp., a fruit powder, a fruit puree or a combination thereof. 21. The method according to claim 20, further characterized in that it comprises reducing the moisture content with the coating. 22. The process according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises expanding the fruit extrudate to give an extruded product of roasted, crisp or hard fruit. 23. The process according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises producing an extruded product having a lower density than an internal mass of fruit to the extruder. 24. The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a moisture content of less than 10%. 25. The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a moisture content of less than 6%. 26. The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.55. 27. The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it comprises drying the extruded product at a level of Aw of less than 0.4. 28. The process according to claim 19, further characterized in that the feed material comprises 100% dried fruit. 29. The process according to claim 19, further characterized in that the feedstock comprises 75-100% dried fruit. 30. The process according to claim 19, further characterized in that the feed material comprises 45-100% dried fruit. 31.- A ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising a 100% fruit toasted extruded fruit product using a food extruder and having a lower density after extrusion compared to an internal fruit mass at extruder 32.- The food product in accordance with the claim 31, further characterized in that a dry fruit feed material for producing the food product prior to extrusion has a moisture content of 13-30%. 33. The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that at least a portion of the extruded fruit product is toasted after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 34. The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that at least a portion of the extruded fruit product is crisp after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 35.- The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that at least a portion of the extruded fruit product is hard after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 36.- The food product in accordance with the claim 31, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a moisture content of less than 10% after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 37.- The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a moisture content of less than 6% after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 38.- The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.55 after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 39.- The food product according to claim 31, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.4 after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 40.- A ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising an extruded fruit product using dried fruit as a feed material with a moisture content of 13-30% provided to a food processing extruder. 41. The food product of RTE according to claim 40, further characterized in that the feed material comprises pieces of dried fruit crushed by a cutter mill. 42.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the feed material comprises pieces of dried fruit. 43.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a water moisture content of less than 10% after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 44. The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product comprises an expanded food product having a larger volume than the same food product in the extruder. 45.- The RTE food product according to claim 44, further characterized in that the expansion occurs from internal stresses on the extruded fruit product caused from the extruder. 46.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product comprises a hard fruit product. 47.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product can pass through a standard U.S: # 4 screen but not through a standard U.S: # 8 screen. 48. The RTE food product according to claim 47, further characterized in that the food product comprises a granulated food RTE. 49.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product can pass through a U.S: # 8 standard screen. 50.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product comprises a plurality of wafers. 51.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the food product comprises a mixture of crushed dried fruit and dried fruit pulp or dry fruit powder which forms a coating on the crushed dried fruit. 52.- A processed food product having at least one portion that is the RTE food product of claim 40. 53.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized by at least a portion of the product. of extruded fruit is crunchy after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 54- The RTE food product according to claim 53, further characterized in that the product of extruded fruit is crisp regardless of starch additives. 55.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.55 after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 56.- The RTE food product according to claim 40, further characterized in that the fruit product comprises a water activity level (Aw) of less than 0.4 after extrusion and post-extrusion drying. 57.- A system for preparing a ready-to-eat food product (RTE), comprising a) a supply of dried fruit; b) a cutter mill coupled to the dried fruit supply; and c) a food processing extruder coupled to the cutter mill. 58.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized in that it comprises a mixer coupled to the cutter mill. 59.- The system according to claim 58, further characterized in that it comprises a corrugated hopper coupled between the mixer and the cutter mill. 60.- The system according to claim 58, further characterized in that it comprises a supply of ingredient that is not fruit coupled to the mixer. 61. - The system according to claim 58, further characterized in that it comprises a supply of non-fruit ingredient coupled to the mixer and the mixer coupled to the independent extruder of the cutter mill coupled to the extruder. 62.- The system according to claim 61, further characterized in that it comprises a corrugated hopper coupled between the mixer and the extruder. 63.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized in that it comprises a mill adapted to the extruder. 64.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized in that it comprises a mill adapted to process an extruded product from the extruder. 65.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized by a screen adapted to process an extruded product from the extruder. 66.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized in that it comprises a packer for processing an extruded product from the extruder. 67.- The system according to claim 57, further characterized in that it comprises: a) a mixer coupled to the fruit supply; b) a corrugated hopper coupled between the mixer and the extruder; c) a dryer coupled to the extruder adapted to process an extruded product from the extruder; d) a roller mill coupled to the dryer; e) a screen coupled to the roller mill; and f) a packer coupled to the sieve.