F. Spawn introduced dehydration as a form of food preservation in 1886 when he developed his Climax Fruit Evaporator to process excess apples in southern Tasmania. It has since been acknowledged to have been the beginning of mechanical dehydration. The drying of potatoes and other vegetables on a semi –commercial scale was first done apparently by A. F. Spawn, an American resident in Australia in 1886, but the industry did not make a business success.
References:
- Commercial Dehydration: A Factor in the Solution of the International Food Problem, S. C. Prescott and L. D. Sweet. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.Vol. 83, International Economics (May, 1919), pp. 48-69
- Spawn, A. F.’,Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475611
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