Freeze-dried Food: A Contribution of the Incas to the Modern World

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The Inca empire was one of the most powerful empires of pre-Columbian South America. However, this power didn’t come to them overnight; they had to work very hard to achieve such a great power. The Incas used many tools and weapons that they used to conquer others, but they used one that is very simple. Many people have overlooked it though; this process that was used was freeze-dried foods. Many people think that it was only recently invented in the 1960s, but it was not invented, or even thought of in a NASA lab. Annie Matthews says “as far back as 1200 A.D, the Incas freeze-dried potatoes” (Matthews). The Incas used many important inventions such as suspension bridges, terrace farming, and the calendar, but one main invention that drove the Incas to power was freeze-dried food. Freeze-dried foods is really helpful for us today, but it also was part of the reason that the Inca empire was so powerful.
The Incas were obviously not as advanced as we are today, so it is understandable that they would not freeze-dry food the same way that we do today. One of the main foods that the Incas freeze-dried was the potato. They picked the potato because, since it was grown underground, it was one of the only foods that could survive the harsh weather of the Andes. This freeze-dried potato was called chuño, but they also freeze-dried beef into a substance called charqui, which was a precursor to beef jerky (Food of the Incas). According to the author of thinkquest.org “after a matter of days, this dried potato pulp, known as chuño, was able to keep for up to one year” (Food of the Incas). Some may be wondering how they actually freeze-dried food. Since the Incas lived in the high elevations and low pressures of the Andes mountains, they could use these mountains to their advantage; they certainly did not pass up on that opportunity. They would take potatoes, or another food, up to the tops of the Andes mountains to freeze overnight, and during the day, when it got warmer, the low pressure would turn the frozen water that was inside of the food directly into water vapor. Usually, frozen water changes to a liquid and then a gas, but that is in highly pressurized areas. If the water inside of the food turned directly to a liquid, then the water would not evaporate.

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