IQF stands for ‘individually quick frozen’. IQF foods are notable for the fact that each individual piece of food (Vegetable or fruit) is frozen separately, the technology thereby avoiding formation of solid blocks of frozen items. This preserves them better and makes it easier to de-freeze and cook with them.
The IQF method, also called flash freezing, involves sending the individual food items on a sort of conveyor belt into a blast chiller that freezes the item very quickly. When food items are separately frozen only very small ice crystals are formed (compared to conventional freezing) thus causing less damage to the food fibers and reduces degrading.