CONVENTIONAL AND ADVANCED FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES

Drying and Dehydration Processes in Food Preservation and Processing

Introduction
Drying is the oldest method of preserving food. Throughout history, the sun, the wind, and a smoky
fire were used to remove water from fruits, meats, grains, and herbs. By definition, food dehydration
is the process of removing water from food by circulating hot air through it, which prohibits the
growth of enzymes and bacteria. Dried foods are tasty, nutritious, lightweight, easy to prepare, and
easy-to-store and use. The energy input is less than what is needed to freeze or can, and the storage
space is minimal compared with that needed for canning jars and freeze containers. The nutritional
value of food is only minimally affected by drying. Vitamin A is retained during drying; however,
because vitamin A is light sensitive, food containing it should be stored in dark places. Yellow and dark
green vegetables, such as peppers, carrots, winter squash, and sweet potatoes, have high vitamin A
content. Vitamin C is destroyed by exposure to heat, although pre-treating foods with lemon, orange,
or pineapple juice increases vitamin C content. Dried fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and
carbohydrates and low in fat, making them healthy food choices.

Drying Technologies
2.1. Sun Drying
The high sugar and acid content of fruits make them safe to dry in the sun. Vegetables and meats are
not recommended for sun drying. Vegetables are low in sugar and acid. This increases the risks for
food spoilage. Meats are high in protein making them ideal for microbial growth when heat and
humidity cannot be controlled. To dry in the sun, hot, dry, breezy days are best. A minimum
temperature of 86oF is needed with higher temperatures being better. It takes several days to dry
foods out-of-doors. Because the weather is uncontrollable, sun drying can be risky.
Also, the high humidity is a problem. Humidity below 60 percent is best for sun drying. Often these
ideal conditions are not available when fruit ripens. Fruits dried in the sun are placed on trays made of
screen or wood. Screens need to be safe for contact with food. The best screens are stainless steel,
teflon coated fiberglass or plastic. Avoid screens made from “hardware cloth”. This is galvanized
metal cloth that is coated with cadmium or zinc. These materials can oxidize, leaving harmful residues
on the food. Also avoid copper and aluminum screening. Copper destroys vitamin C and increases
oxidation. Aluminum tends to discolor and corrode. Outdoor drying rack most woods are fine for
making trays. However, do not use green wood, pine, cedar, oak or redwood. These woods warp,
stain the food or cause off-flavors in the food. Place trays on blocks to allow for better air movement
around the food. Because the ground may be moist, it is best to place the racks or screens on a
concrete driveway or if possible over a sheet of aluminum or tin. The reflection of the sun on the
metal increases the drying temperature. Cover the trays with cheesecloth to help protect the fruit
from birds or insects.
Fruits dried in the sun must be covered or brought under shelter at night. The cool night air
condenses and could add moisture back to the food, thus slowing down the drying process.

2.2. Solar Drying

Solar drying also uses the sun as the heat source. A foil surface inside the dehydrator helps to increase
the temperature. Ventilation speeds up the drying time. Shorter drying times reduce the risks of food
spoilage or mold growth.
2.3. Freeze Drying
Freeze-drying, also known as lyophilisation, or cryodesiccation, is a dehydration process typically used
to preserve a perishable material or make the material more convenient for transport. Freeze-drying
works by freezing the material and then reducing the surrounding pressure to allow the frozen water
in the material to sublimate directly from the solid phase to the gas phase.
2.4. Oven Drying
By combining the factors of heat, low humidity and air flow, an oven can be used as a dehydrator. An
oven is ideal for occasional drying of fruit leathers, banana chips or for preserving excess produce like
celery or mushrooms. Oven drying is slower than dehydrators because it does not have a built-in fan
for the air movement. (However, some convection ovens do have a fan). It takes about two times
longer to dry food in an oven than it does in a dehydrator. Thus, the oven is not as efficient as a
dehydrator and uses more energy.

3. Recent Advances in Drying Technology

Osmotic dehydration is the process of water removal by immersion of water-containing cellular solid
in a concentrated aqueous solution. The fundamental purpose of food dehydration is
 To lower the water content in order to minimize rates of chemical reactions
 To facilitate distribution and storage.
In osmotic dehydration, foods are immersed or soaked in a saline or sugar solution. The driving force
is the difference in the osmotic pressure of solutions on both sides of the semi-permeable cell
membranes.
Selective and low-molecular cell sap components such as sugars and organic acids diffuse into the
surrounding solution of higher osmotic pressure. Other cell components, only to a small extent, pass
outside of the membrane. The diffusion of water and low-molecular weight substances from the
tissue structure during the osmotic dehydration is accompanied by the countercurrent diffusion of
osmo-active substances. For this reason, osmotic dehydration as opposed to conventional drying is
characterized by the complex movement of water, substances dissolved in cell sap and osmo-active
substances. This significantly influences the process itself and its final effect with respect to
preservation, nutrition and organoleptic properties.
The process of water removal and increase in osmo-active substances lowers the water activity in the
cell. Food tissues are normally immersed in concentrated solution of osmo-active substances such as
sucrose, fructose, glucose, glycerol, starch syrup and sodium chloride at moderate temperatures
thereby reducing heat damage to texture, colour and flavour of food. Thus, through the process, de-
watering and direct formulation of a product is possible by introducing the desired amount of an
active principle, a preservative agent, any solute of nutritional interest, or a sensory quality improver
into the food tissue.
Osmotic dehydration is also one of the methods for food preservation that enables to obtain
organoleptically attractive products.

Chilling
Chilling is the unit operation in which the temperature of a food is reduced to between 1ºC and 8ºC. It
is used to reduce the rate of biochemical and microbiological changes, and hence to extend the shelf
life of fresh and processed foods. It causes minimal changes to sensory characteristics and nutritional
properties of foods and, as a result, chilled foods are perceived by consumers as being convenient,
easy to prepare, high quality and ‘healthy’, ‘natural’ and ‘fresh’.
Chilling is often used in combination with other unit operations for example fermentation or
pasteurization to extend the shelf life of mildly processed foods. There is a greater preservative effect
when chilling is combined with control of the composition of the storage atmosphere than that found
using either unit operation alone. However, not all foods can be chilled and tropical, subtropical and
some temperate fruits, for example, suffer from chilling injury at 3–10ºC above their freezing point.
Chilled foods are grouped into three categories according to their storage temperature range as
follows:
1. 1ºC to +1ºC (fresh fish, meats, sausages and ground meats, smoked meats and breaded fish).
2. 0ºC to +5ºC (pasteurised canned meat, milk, cream, yoghurt, prepared salads, sandwiches, baked
goods, fresh pasta, fresh soups and sauces, pizzas, pastries and unbaked dough).
3. 0ºC to +8ºC (fully cooked meats and fish pies, cooked or uncooked cured meats, butter, margarine,
hard cheese, cooked rice, fruit juices and soft fruits).
Chilling therefore reduces the rate of enzymic and microbiological change and retards respiration of
fresh foods. The factors that control the shelf life of fresh crops in chill storage include:
 the type of food and variety or cultivar
 the part of the crop selected (the fastest growing parts have the highest metabolic rates and
the shortest storage lives
 the condition of the food at harvest (for example the presence of mechanical damage or
microbial contamination, and the degree of maturity)
 the temperature of harvest, storage, distribution and retail display
 the relative humidity of the storage atmosphere, which influences dehydration losses
Undesirable changes to some fruits and vegetables occur when the temperature is reduced below a
specific optimum for the individual fruit. This is termed chilling injury and results in various
physiological changes (for example internal or external browning, failure to ripen and skin blemishes).
The reasons for this are not fully understood but may include an imbalance in metabolic activity which
results in the over-production of metabolites that then become toxic to the tissues. It is found for
example in apples (less than 2–3ºC), avocados (less than 13ºC), bananas (less than 12– 13ºC), lemons
(less than 14ºC), mangoes (less than 10–13ºC) and melons, pineapples and tomatoes (each less than
7–10ºC).
In animal tissues, aerobic respiration rapidly declines when the supply of oxygenated blood is stopped
at slaughter. Anaerobic respiration of glycogen to lactic acid then causes the pH of the meat to fall,
and the onset of rigor mortis, in which the muscle tissue becomes firm and inextensible. Cooling
during anaerobic respiration is necessary to produce the required texture and colour of meat and to
reduce bacterial contamination. Undesirable changes, caused by cooling meat before rigor mortis has
occurred, are termed cold shortening.
The shelf life of chilled processed foods is determined by:
 the type of food
 the degree of microbial destruction or enzyme inactivation achieved by the process
 control of hygiene during processing and packaging
 the barrier properties of the package
 Temperatures during processing, distribution and storage.
Processing by application of heat
Heat treatment remains one of the most important methods used in food processing, not only
because of the desirable effects on eating quality (many foods are consumed in a cooked form and
processes such as baking produce flavours that cannot be created by other means), but also because
of the preservative effect on foods by the destruction of enzymes, micro-organisms, insects and
parasites. The other main advantages of heat processing are:
• relatively simple control of processing conditions
• capability to produce shelf-stable foods that do not require refrigeration
• destruction of anti-nutritional factors (e.g. trypsin inhibitor in some legumes)
• improvement in the availability of some nutrients (e.g. improved digestibility of proteins,
gelatinisation of starches and release of bound niacin).
However, heat also alters or destroys components of foods that are responsible for their individual
flavour, colour, taste or texture and as a result they are perceived to have a lower quality and lower
value.
Blanching
Blanching serves a variety of functions, one of the main ones being to destroy enzymic activity in
vegetables and some fruits, prior to further processing. As such, it is not intended as a sole method of
preservation but as a pre-treatment which is normally carried out between the preparation of the raw
material and later operations (particularly heat sterilisation, dehydration and freezing.
Blanching is also combined with peeling and/or cleaning of food, to achieve savings in energy
consumption, space and equipment costs.
A few processed vegetables, for example onions and green peppers, do not require blanching to
prevent enzyme activity during storage, but the majority suffer considerable loss in quality if
blanching is omitted or if they are under-blanched. To achieve adequate enzyme inactivation, food is
heated rapidly to a pre-set temperature, held for a pre-set time and then cooled rapidly to near
ambient temperatures. The factors which influence blanching time are:
• type of fruit or vegetable
• size of the pieces of food
• blanching temperature
• method of heating.
Blanching reduces the numbers of contaminating micro-organisms on the surface of foods and hence
assists in subsequent preservation operations.
Blanching also softens vegetable tissues to facilitate filling into containers and removes air from
intercellular spaces which increases the density of food and assists in the formation of a head-space
vacuum in cans.
The two most widespread commercial methods of blanching involve passing food through an
atmosphere of saturated steam or a bath of hot water. Both types of equipment are relatively simple
and inexpensive
Steam blanchers
In general this is the preferred method for foods with a large area of cut surfaces as leaching losses
are much smaller than those found using hot-water blanchers.
At its simplest a steam blancher consists of a mesh conveyor belt that carries food through a steam
atmosphere in a tunnel. The residence time of the food is controlled by the speed of the conveyor
and the length of the tunnel. Typically a tunnel is 15 m long and 1–1.5 m wide. The efficiency of
energy consumption is 19% when water sprays are used at the inlet and outlet to condense escaping
steam.
In conventional steam blanching, there is often poor uniformity of heating in the multiple layers of
food. The time–temperature combination required to ensure enzyme inactivation at the centre of the
bed results in overheating of food at the edges and a consequent loss of texture and other sensory
characteristics.
Advantages of steam blanchers
• Smaller loss of water soluble components
• Smller volumes of waste and lower disposal charges than water blanchers
 • Easy to clean and sterilise
Disadvantages
• Limited cleaning of the food so washers alos required
• Uneven blnching if the food is piled too high on the conveyor
• Some loss of mass in the food
Hot water blanchers
There are a number of different designs of blancher, each of which holds the food in hot water at 70–
100ºC for a specified time and then removes it to a dewatering-cooling section. In the widely used
reel blancher, food enters a slowly rotating cylindrical mesh drum which is partly submerged in hot
water. The food is moved through the drum by internal flights. The speed of rotation and length
control the heating time. Pipe blanchers consist of a continuous insulated metal pipe fitted with feed
and discharge ports. Hot water is recirculated through the pipe and food is metered in. The residence
time of food in the blancher is determined by the length of the pipe and the velocity of the water.
These blanchers have the advantage of a large capacity while occupying a small floor space. In some
applications they may be used to transport food simultaneously through a factory.
Advantages
• Lower capital cost
• Better energy efficiency
Disadvantages
• Higher costs in purchase of water and charges for treatment of large volumes of dilute effluent
• Risk of contamination by thermophilic bacteria
Effect of blanching on foods
The heat received by a food during blanching inevitably causes some changes to sensory and
nutritional qualities. However, the heat treatment is less severe than for example in heat sterilisation,
and the resulting changes in food quality are less pronounced. In general, the time–temperature
combination used for blanching is a compromise which ensures adequate enzyme inactivation but
prevents excessive softening and loss of flavour in the food.
Nutrients
Some minerals, water-soluble vitamins and other water-soluble components are lost during
blanching. Losses of vitamins are mostly due to leaching, thermal destruction and, to a lesser extent,
oxidation. The extent of vitamin loss depends on a number of factors including:
• the maturity of the food and variety
• methods used in preparation of the food, particularly the extent of cutting, slicing or dicing
• the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the pieces of food
• method of blanching
 • time and temperature of blanching (lower vitamin losses at higher temperatures for shorter
times)
• the method of cooling
• the ratio of water to food (in both water blanching and cooling).
Colour and flavour
Blanching brightens the colour of some foods by removing air and dust on the surface. The time and
temperature of blanching also influence the change in food pigments. Sodium carbonate (0.125%
w/w) or calcium oxide are often added to blancher water to protect chlorophyll and to retain the
colour of green vegetables, although the increase in pH may increase losses of ascorbic acid. Enzymic
browning of cut apples and potatoes is prevented by holding the food in dilute (2% w/w) brine prior
to blanching. When correctly blanched, most foods have no significant changes to flavour or aroma,
but under-blanching can lead to the development of off-flavours during storage of dried or frozen
foods
Texture
One of the purposes of blanching is to soften the texture of vegetables to facilitate filling into
containers prior to canning. However, when used for freezing or drying, the time– temperature
conditions needed to achieve enzyme inactivation cause an excessive loss of texture in some types of
food (for example certain varieties of potato) and in large pieces of food. Calcium chloride (1–2%) is
therefore added to blancher water to form insoluble calcium pectate complexes and thus to maintain
firmness in the tissues.
Fermentation
The main factors that control the growth and activity of micro-organisms in food fermentations are:
• availability of carbon and nitrogen sources, and any specific nutrients required by individual
micro-organisms
• substrate pH
• moisture content
• incubation temperature
• redox potential
• stage of growth of micro-organisms
• presence of other competing micro-organisms.
Types of food fermentations
Micro-organisms that produce a single main by-product are termed homofermentative whereas
those that produce mixed products are heterofermentative. Fermentations can be classified into
those in which the main products are organic acids and those in which ethanol and carbon dioxide are
the primary products. Lactic acid and ethanolic fermentations are among the most important
commercial fermentations.
Pasteurization
Pasteurisation is a relatively mild heat treatment, in which food is heated to below 100ºC. In low acid
foods (pH>4.5, for example milk) it is used to minimise possible health hazards from pathogenic
micro-organisms and to extend the shelf life of foods for several days. In acidic foods (pH<4.5, for
example bottled fruit) it is used to extend the shelf life for several months by destruction of spoilage
micro-organisms (yeasts or moulds) and/or enzyme inactivation. In both types of food, minimal
changes are caused to the sensory characteristics or nutritive value.
Pasteurisation conditions can be optimised for retention of nutritional and sensory quality by the use
of high-temperature short-time (HTST) conditions. For example in milk processing the lower-
temperature longer-time process operating at 63ºC for 30min (the holder process) causes greater
changes to flavour and a slightly greater loss of vitamins than HTST processing at 71.8ºC for 15s and it
is less often used. Higher temperatures and shorter times (for example 88ºC for 1s, 94ºC for 0.1s or
100ºC for 0.01s for milk) are described as higher-heat shorter-time processing or ‘flash
pasteurisation’.
Alkaline phosphatase is a naturally occurring enzyme in raw milk which has a similar D value to heat-
resistant pathogens. The direct estimation of pathogen numbers by microbiological methods is
expensive and time consuming, and a simple test for phosphatase activity is therefore routinely used.
If phosphatase activity is found, it is assumed that the heat treatment was inadequate to destroy the
pathogenic bacteria or that unpasteurised milk has contaminated the pasteurised product.
Effect on foods
Pasteurisation is a relatively mild heat treatment and even when combined with other unit operations
and chilling there are only minor changes to the nutritional and sensory characteristics of most foods.
However, the shelf life of pasteurised foods is usually only extended by a few days or weeks
compared with many months with the more severe heat sterilisation. Minimising post processing
contamination is essential to ensure an adequate shelf life.
Colour, flavour and aroma
In fruit juices the main cause of colour deterioration is enzymic browning by polyphenoloxidase. This
is promoted by the presence of oxygen, and fruit juices are therefore routinely deaerated prior to
pasteurisation. The difference between the whiteness of raw milk and that of pasteurised milk is due
to homogenisation, and pasteurisation alone has no measurable effect. Other pigments in plant and
animal products are also mostly unaffected by pasteurisation. A small loss of volatile aroma
compounds during pasteurisation of juices causes a reduction in quality and may also unmask other
‘cooked’ flavours.
Vitamin loss
In fruit juices, losses of vitamin C and carotene are minimised by deaeration. Changes to milk are
confined to a 5% loss of serum proteins and small changes to the vitamin content.
Sterilization
Heat sterilisation is the unit operation in which foods are heated at a sufficiently high temperature
and for a sufficiently long time to destroy microbial and enzyme activity. As a result, sterilised foods
have a shelf life in excess of six months at ambient temperatures. The severe heat treatment during
the older process of in-container sterilisation (canning) may produce substantial changes in nutritional
and sensory qualities of foods.
In-container sterilisation
The length of time required to sterilise a food is influenced by:
• the heat resistance of micro-organisms or enzymes likely to be present in the food
• the heating conditions
• the pH of the food
• the size of the container
• the physical state of the food.
In order to determine the process time for a given food, it is necessary to have information about
both the heat resistance of micro-organisms, particularly heat resistant spores, or enzymes that are
likely to be present and the rate of heat penetration into the food.
Rate of heat penetration
Heat is transferred from steam or pressurised water through the container and into the food. The
following factors are important influences on the rate of heat penetration into a food:
• Type of product. Liquid or particulate foods (for example peas in brine) in which natural convection
currents are established heat faster than solid foods in which heat is transferred by conduction (for
example meat pastes and corned beef). The low thermal conductivity of foods is a major limitation to
heat transfer in conduction heating foods.
• Size of the container. Heat penetration to the centre is faster in small containers than in large
containers.
• Agitation of the container. End-over-end agitation and, to a lesser extent, axial agitation increases
the effectiveness of natural convection currents and thereby increases the rate of heat penetration in
viscous or semi-solid foods (for example beans in tomato sauce).
• Temperature of the retort. A higher temperature difference between the food and the heating
medium causes faster heat penetration.
• Shape of the container. Tall containers promote convection currents in convective heating foods.
• Type of container. Heat penetration is faster through metal than through glass or plastics owing to
differences in their thermal conductivity
Retorting (heat processing)
The shelf life of sterilised foods depends in part on the ability of the container to isolate the food
completely from the environment. The four major types of heat-sterilisable container are:
 1. metal cans
2. glass jars or bottles
3. flexible pouches
4. rigid trays.
Before filled containers are processed, it is necessary to remove air by an operation termed
‘exhausting’. This prevents air expanding with the heat and therefore reduces strain on the container.
The removal of oxygen also prevents internal corrosion and oxidative changes in some foods. Steam
replaces the air and on cooling forms a partial vacuum in the head space. Containers are exhausted
by:
• Hot filling the food into the container (commonly used as it also pre-heats food which reduces
processing times)
• Cold filling the food and then heating the container and contents to 80–95ºC with the lid
partially sealed (clinched)
• Mechanical removal of the air using a vacuum pump
• Steam flow closing, where a blast of steam (at 34–41.5103 Pa) carries air away from the
surface of the food immediately before the container is sealed. This method is best suited to
liquid foods where there is little air trapped in the product and the surface is flat and does not
interrupt the flow of steam.
Heating by saturated steam
Latent heat is transferred to food when saturated steam condenses on the outside of the container. If
air is trapped inside the retort, it forms an insulating boundary film around the cans which prevents
the steam from condensing and causes underprocessing of the food. It also produces a lower
temperature than that obtained with saturated steam. It is therefore important that all air is removed
from the retort by the incoming steam using a procedure known as venting. A major problem with
processing solid or viscous foods is the low rate of heat penetration to the thermal centre. As a result,
over-processing causes damage to nutritional and sensory characteristics of food near the walls of the
container in addition to long processing times and hence low productivity. Methods that are used to
increase the rate of heat transfer include the use of thinner profile containers and agitation of
containers.
After sterilisation the containers are cooled by sprays of water. Steam is rapidly condensed in the
retort, but the food cools more slowly and the pressure in the containers remains high. Compressed
air is therefore used to equalise the pressure to prevent strain on the container seams (pressure
cooling). When the food has cooled to below 100ºC, the over-pressure of air is removed and cooling
continues to approximately 40ºC. At this temperature, moisture on the container dries which
prevents surface corrosion and allows label adhesives to set more rapidly.
Heating by hot water
Foods are processed in glass containers or flexible pouches under hot water with an overpressure of
air. Glass containers are thicker than metal cans to provide adequate strength. This, together with the
lower thermal conductivity of glass, results in slower heat penetration and longer processing times
than for cans and there is a higher risk of thermal shock to the container. Foods in rigid polymer trays
or flexible pouches heat more rapidly owing to the thinner material and smaller cross-section of the
container. This enables savings in energy and causes minimum overheating near the container wall.
Ultra high-temperature (UHT)/aseptic processes
Higher processing temperatures for a shorter time are possible if the product is sterilised before it is
filled into pre-sterilised containers in a sterile atmosphere. This forms the basis of UHT processing
(also termed aseptic processing). It is used to sterilise a wide range of liquid foods, including milk, fruit
juices and concentrates, cream, yoghurt, wine, salad dressing, egg and ice cream mix. It can also be
used to process foods which contain small discrete particles, for example cottage cheese, baby foods,
tomato products, fruit and vegetables, soups and rice desserts. UHT has an important additional
advantage of a shelf life of at least six months without refrigeration. The main limitations of UHT
processing are the cost and complexity of the plant, which arises from the necessity to sterilise
packaging materials, associated pipework and tanks, the maintenance of sterile air and surfaces in
filling machines, and the higher skill levels required by operators and maintenance staff.
Effect on foods
The purpose of heat sterilisation is to extend the shelf life of foods for storage at ambient
temperatures, while minimising the changes in nutritional value and eating quality.
Colour
The time–temperature combinations used in canning have a substantial effect on most naturally
occurring pigments in foods. For example, in meats the red oxymyoglobin pigment is converted to
brown metmyoglobin. Maillard browning and caramelisation also contribute to the colour of sterilised
meats. However, this is an acceptable change in cooked meats. Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are
added to some meat products to reduce the risk of growth of C. botulinum. The resulting red–pink
coloration is due to nitric oxide myoglobin and metmyoglobin nitrite. In fruits and vegetables,
chlorophyll is converted to pheophytin and anthocyanins are degraded to brown pigments. This loss
of colour is often corrected using permitted synthetic colourants.
In sterilised milk slight colour changes are due to caramelisation, and Maillard browning. In UHT
processing, meat pigments change colour, but there is little caramelisation or Maillard browning.
Flavour and aroma
In canned meats there are complex changes, for example pyrolysis, deamination and decarboxylation
of amino acids, degradation, Maillard reactions and caramelisation of carbohydrates to furfural and
hydroxymethylfurfural, and oxidation and decarboxylation of lipids. Interactions between these
components produce more than 600 flavour compounds in ten chemical classes. In fruits and
vegetables, changes are due to complex reactions which involve the degradation, recombination and
volatilisation of aldehydes, ketones, sugars, lactones, amino acids and organic acids. In milk the
development of a cooked flavour is due to denaturation of whey proteins to form hydrogen sulphide
and the formation of lactones and methyl ketones from lipids.
Texture or viscosity
In canned meats, changes in texture are caused by coagulation and a loss of water holding capacity of
proteins, which produces shrinkage and stiffening of muscle tissues. Softening is caused by hydrolysis
of collagen, solubilisation of the resulting gelatin, and melting and dispersion of fats through the
product. The texture of solid fruit and vegetable pieces is softer than the unprocessed food due to
solubilisation of pectic materials and a loss of cell turgor but is considerably firmer than canned
products. The relatively long time required for collagen hydrolysis and the relatively low temperature
needed to prevent toughening of meat fibres are conditions found in canning but not in UHT
processing. Toughening of meat is therefore likely under UHT conditions.
Extrusion
Extrusion is a process which combines several unit operations including mixing, cooking, kneading,
shearing, shaping and forming. Extruders are classified according to;

 the method of operation (cold extruders or extruder-cookers) and

 the method of construction (single- or twin-screw extruders).
Principle of operation
The principles of operation are similar in all types:
Raw materials are fed into the extruder barrel and the screw(s) then convey the food along it. Further
down the barrel, smaller flights restrict the volume and increase the resistance to movement of the
food. As a result, it fills the barrel and the spaces between the screw flights and becomes compressed.
As it moves further along the barrel, the screw kneads the material into a semi-solid, plasticised mass.
If the food is heated above 100ºC the process is known as extrusion cooking (or hot extrusion). Here,
frictional heat and any additional heating that is used cause the temperature to rise rapidly.
The food is then passed to the section of the barrel having the smallest flights, where pressure and
shearing is further increased. Finally, it is forced through one or more restricted openings (dies) at the
discharge end of the barrel As the food emerges under pressure from the die, it expands to the final
shape and cools rapidly as moisture is flashed off as steam. A variety of shapes, including rods,
spheres, doughnuts, tubes, strips, squirls or shells can be formed.
Cold extrusion, in which the temperature of the food remains at ambient is used to mix and shape
foods such as pasta and meat products. Low pressure extrusion, at temperatures below 100ºC, is used
to produce, for example, liquorice, fish pastes and pet foods. Extrusion cooking is a high-temperature
short-time (HTST) process which reduces microbial contamination and inactivates enzymes. However,
the main method of preservation of both hot- and cold-extruded foods is by the low water activity of
the product (0.1–0.4), and for semi-moist products in particular, by the packaging materials that are
used.

Typical products include a wide variety of low density, expanded snackfoods and ready-to-eat (RTE)
puffed cereals.
Examples of extruded products

Types of product Examples

Cereal-based products Expanded snack foods
RTE and puffed breakfast cereals
Soup and beverage bases, instant drinks
Weaning foods
Pre-gelatinised and modified starches, dextrins
Crispbread
Pasta products
Pre-cooked composite flours
Sugar-based products Chewing gum
Toffee, caramel
Fruit gums
Protein-based products Texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
Semi-moist and expanded petfoods and animal
feeds and protein supplements
Sausage products, frankfurters, hot dogs
Processed cheese

Extrusion has gained in popularity for the following reasons:

• Versatility. A very wide variety of products are possible by changing the ingredients, the operating
conditions of the extruder and the shape of the dies. Many extruded foods cannot be easily produced
by other methods.
• Reduced costs. Extrusion has lower processing costs and higher productivity than other cooking or
forming processes. Some traditional processes, including manufacture of cornflakes and frankfurters,
are more efficient and cheaper when replaced by extrusion.
• High production rates and automated production. Extruders operate continuously and have high
throughputs. For example, production rates of up to 315kgh -1 for snack foods, 1200 kgh-1 for low-
density cereals and 9000 kgh-1 for dry expanded petfoods are possible.
• Product quality. Extrusion cooking involves high temperatures applied for a short time and the
limited heat treatment therefore retains many heat sensitive components.
• No process effluents. Extrusion is a low-moisture process that does not produce process effluents.
This eliminates water treatment costs and does not create problems of environmental pollution.
Extrusion can be seen as an example of a size enlargement process, in which granular or powdered
foods are re-formed into larger pieces.
Effect on foods
Sensory characteristics
Production of characteristic textures is one of the main features of extrusion technology. The extent
of changes to starch, determined by the operating conditions and feed materials, produce the wide
range of product textures that can be achieved. The HTST conditions in extrusion cooking have only
minor effects on the natural colour and flavour of foods. However, in many foods the colour of the
product is determined by the synthetic pigments added to the feed material as water- or oil-soluble
powders, emulsions or lakes. Fading of colour due to product expansion, excessive heat or reactions
with proteins, reducing sugars or metal ions may be a problem in some extruded foods. Added
flavours are mixed with ingredients before cold extrusion, but this is largely unsuccessful in extrusion
cooking as the flavours are volatilised when the food emerges from the die. Micro-encapsulated
flavours are more suitable but expensive. Flavours are therefore more often applied to the surface of
extruded foods in the form of sprayed emulsions or viscous slurries. However, this may cause
stickiness in some products and hence require additional drying.
Nutritional value
Vitamin losses in extruded foods vary according to the type of food, the moisture content, the
temperature of processing and the holding time. Generally, losses are minimal in cold extrusion. The
HTST conditions in extrusion cooking, and the rapid cooling as the product emerges from the die,
cause relatively small losses of most vitamins and essential amino acids. For example at an extruder
temperature of 154ºC there is a 95% retention of thiamin and little loss of riboflavin, pyridoxine,
niacin or folic acid in cereals. However, losses of ascorbic acid and beta-carotene are up to 50%,
depending on the time that the food is held at the elevated temperatures, and loss of lysine, cystine
and methionine in rice products varies between 50 and 90% depending on processing conditions. In
soy flour the changes to proteins depend on the formulation and processing conditions. High
temperatures and the presence of sugars cause Maillard browning and a reduction in protein quality.
Lower temperatures and low concentrations of sugars result in an increase in protein digestibility,
owing to rearrangement of the protein structure. Destruction of anti-nutritional components in soya
products improves the nutritive value of texturised vegetable proteins.

Evaporation
Evaporation, or concentration by boiling, is the partial removal of water from liquid foods by boiling
off water vapour. It increases the solids content of a food and hence preserves it by a reduction in
water activity. Evaporation is used to pre-concentrate foods (for example fruit juice, milk and coffee)
prior to drying, freezing or sterilisation and hence to reduce their weight and volume. This saves
energy in subsequent operations and reduces storage, transport and distribution costs. There is also
greater convenience for the consumer (for example fruit drinks for dilution, concentrated soups,
tomato or garlic pastes, sugar) or for the manufacturer (for example liquid pectin, fruit concentrates
for use in ice cream or baked goods).
Theory
During evaporation, sensible heat is transferred from steam to the food, to raise the temperature to
its boiling point. Latent heat of vaporisation is then supplied by the steam to form bubbles of vapour,
which leave the surface of the boiling liquid. The rate of evaporation is determined by both the rate of
heat transfer into the food and the rate of mass transfer of vapour from the food.
Factors influencing the rate of heat transfer
The following factors influence the rate of heat transfer and hence determine processing times and
the quality of concentrated products:
• Temperature difference between the steam and boiling liquid. There are two options to increase
the temperature difference: to increase the pressure and temperature of the steam or to reduce the
temperature of the boiling liquid by evaporating under a partial vacuum. In commercial vacuum
evaporators the boiling point may be reduced to as low as 40ºC. However, both methods increase the
capital cost of equipment because of the extra strength required, and also the cost of energy needed
for processing. The temperature difference becomes smaller as foods become more concentrated,
owing to elevation of the boiling point, and the rate of heat transfer therefore falls as evaporation
proceeds.
• Deposits on heat transfer surfaces. The ‘fouling’ of evaporator surfaces reduces the rate of heat
transfer. It depends on the temperature difference between the food and the heated surface and the
viscosity and chemical composition of the food. For example, denaturation of proteins or deposition
of polysaccharides cause the food to burn onto hot surfaces. Fouling is reduced in some types of
equipment by continuously removing food from the evaporator walls. Metal corrosion on the steam
side of evaporation equipment would also reduce the rate of heat transfer, but it is reduced by anti-
corrosion chemicals or surfaces.
• Boundary films. A film of stationary liquid at the evaporator wall is often the main resistance to heat
transfer. The thickness of the boundary film is reduced by promoting convection currents within the
food or by mechanically induced turbulence. The viscosity of many foods increases as concentration
proceeds. In addition, more viscous foods are in contact with hot surfaces for longer periods and, as a
result, suffer greater heat damage.
Factors influencing the economics of evaporation
The main factors that influence the economics of evaporation are loss of concentrate or product
quality and high energy consumption.
Product losses are caused by foaming, due to proteins and carbohydrates in the food, which causes
inefficient separation of vapour and concentrate, and entrainment, in which a fine mist of concentrate
is produced during the violent boiling, and is carried out of the evaporator by the vapour.
A substantial amount of energy is needed to remove water from foods by boiling (2257 kJ per
kilogram of water evaporated at 100ºC). The economics of evaporation are therefore substantially
improved by attention to the design and operation of equipment and careful planning of energy use.
Effect on foods
Aroma compounds that are more volatile than water are thus lost during evaporation. This reduces
the sensory characteristics of most concentrates; in fruit juices this results in a loss of flavour,
although in some foods the loss of unpleasant volatiles improves the product quality (for example in
cocoa and milk).
Evaporation darkens the colour of foods, partly because of the increase in concentration of solids, but
also because the reduction in water activity promotes chemical changes, (for example Maillard
browning. As these changes are time and temperature dependent, short residence times and low
boiling temperatures produce concentrates which have a good retention of sensory and nutritional
qualities.