Powder is the result of finely divided mixture of dry materials that have been ground together; also used as sugar, talcum powder or cosmetic powders.
Drug powders can be more easily stored, handled and transported than liquids but are more difficult to administer as dosage forms for drugs that are hygroscopic, acidic, deliquescent or volatile. Pharmaceutical companies usually prepare powdered medications using various techniques such as milling, grinding and physical particle size reduction processes to produce pharmaceutical powders.
1. Flavored Powders
Flavor powders offer an easy and versatile way to add zesty flavors to food and beverage recipes. Simply sprinkle directly into your food or drinks, with most having long shelf lives so they can easily be stored away in your pantry or kitchen cabinet.
Flavored powders are most often seen used in beverages like iced tea and instant coffee, though they can also be found in cotton candy, gummy-type candy and cereal products.
Powder flavorings offer many advantages over liquid flavors; they do not need additional carriers and do not experience temperature-induced odor loss, while their stability allows for easy inclusion into products requiring high processing or moisture content – they work particularly well when added to microwavable popcorn thanks to being resistant to microwave pressure and heating, plus can easily be reconstituted using hot water, adding an additional dimension of flavor!
2. Dried Spices
Dried herbs and spices make an excellent addition to smoked, barbecued or long-cooked dishes, such as those prepared on a smoker or grill. As dried plant portions contain essential oils that last longer, dried plants can be added early in the cooking process without worrying about being lost altogether. As a rule of thumb for chefs: one teaspoon of dried herbs equals three teaspoons of fresh herbs.
Dried thyme, oregano and basil are popular choices for use in savory cooking, while sweet basil may also be available as are whole or ground nutmeg (both whole and ground), cloves and cinnamon.
Herbs and spices can be purchased at grocery stores, natural food outlets, specialty herb and tea shops or grown at home using a dehydrator. When harvesting from home gardens using dehydrators make sure the plants receive plenty of sunlight and water regularly before drying in a cool location so as to retain their potency.
3. Edible Culinary Powders
Culinary powders are dried versions of popular “store cupboard” ingredients traditionally used in liquid form at home or restaurants. Ohly’s range of culinary powders maintain volatile aroma to deliver complex flavour compositions which can then be rehydrated to be added back into food products such as soups, sauces and snack foods.
Edible culinary powders offer long shelf lives and cost effectiveness compared to their fresh counterparts, providing an effective means of reducing food waste. Once rehydrated they can be added to food products like dairy, salads, beverages or ice cream to enrich them with essential nutrients while adding unique flavour combinations.
Dry granular food powders can either have a crystalline or an amorphous molecular structure depending on the processing technology used, with one often leading to defined molecular alignment while the latter tends to be disordered and more open and porous. A food powder’s molecular structure also affects its functionality and stability; understanding how such properties can be altered at particle, mechanism and process scales will enable optimization to maximize performance and ensure quality criteria are met at any storage or use timepoint is critical in meeting quality criteria at optimal performance or duration points.
4. Specialty Powders
Powdered metals are widely utilized for applications requiring advanced alloys. Metal powders for sale come in an assortment of compositions and use, each possessing specific properties and uses. Most sold powdered metals combine with other materials to form high-strength components like gears or automotive parts while others may be applied through coating processes such as thermal spraying to provide corrosion resistance and other characteristics on surfaces.
Students participate in a guided inquiry lesson designed to explore five mystery powders to examine what types of physical and chemical interactions they have with different liquids, using various tests on each mixture and noting their observations in an observation sheet. They develop their own hypothesis as to the properties of each mystery powder and how it reacts with water, vinegar, iodine and plaster of paris before comparing their findings with those from other groups’ discoveries and discussing what they have discovered.
