http://durgan.org/2016/October%202016/21%20Ocober%202016%20Making%20Dried%20Tomato%20Powder./HTML/ 21 October 2016 Making Dried Tomato Powder. Four trays of 750 ml each of tomatoes were made into a slurry, dehydrated and stored as a powder. These are the tomatoes ripening in the house. There are too many for immediate use, so this is the chosen storage method. Process is to blend into a slurry of about 750 ml with the addition of half a cup of nixtamalized corn to each blender full. The nixtamalized corn prevents the slurry from sticking to the pan when dehydrating. The dried slurry is scraped off into a plastic container to prevent the brittle pieces from flying all over. The dehydrator,Excalibur, was set at 125F for ten hours until dry. Storage is 250 ml canning jars.
http://durgan.org/2016/October%202016/25%20Ocober%202016%20Tomato%20Dehydrated%20using%20Psyllium./HTML/ 25 October 2016 Tomato Dehydrated using Psyllium Instead of using nixtamalized corn to inhibit the dehydrated material from sticking to the pan, I now use psyllium husks purchased from a bulk food store. About 1/4 of cup is added to the blender when making the slurry. The dehydrated material is a solid sheet, and there is absolutely no sticking to the pan. The fiber supplied by the psyllium husks is considered a plus. http://www.psylliums.com/ Psyllium Product Information.
The down side of Psyllium is that it absorbs water and takes longer for the slurry to dry. I used pyllium to process onion, which is a notorious sticker, and it made a large single sheet, which took a long time to dry. Psyllium might have its uses in making fruit leather, since it is a bit flexible and non sticky, and probably sufficiently dry for storage. Fruit leathers are often sticky and hard to handle. My conclusion is the nixtamalized corn appears to be the best catalyst for making various plant produce powders from a slurry in the home environment. Also judging by the responses on the internet dehydration at home is not a big industry. For example they are no forums on preserving by dehydrating.
