Product: Property Scenario

• Physical properties of extruded products

- Physical characteristics such as bulk density, texture, color, expansion ratio,

water absorption index and water solubility index, starch digestibility,
sensory properties of the extrudates, and hardness are important parameters
to evaluate the consumer acceptability of the final product.
- Depending on the operating conditions (screw speed, screw configuration,
feed rate, barrel temperature etc.) of extrusion and properties of raw
material, physical properties and sensory attributes of an extruded product
can change significantly.

1. Expansion Ratio:
- The degree of puffing and cooking undergone by the extrudate as it exits the
die of the extruder.
- Radial expansion of the extrudates can be calculated by dividing
cross-sectional area of the extrudates to the cross-sectional area of the die
orifice.
- The degree of expansion influences the texture and structure of the
extrudate.
- Expansion ratio is important because it indicates the degree of starch
gelatinization of the
extrudate products. The greater the expansion ratio, the greater the degree of
gelatinization.
- The expansion increases with increase of the extrusion temperature.
- Expansion is affected by incorporation of filler (fibres) and protein in
extruded products.
- Proteins could reduce the expansion of extrudates because of their
macromolecular structure, covalent bonding with water.
- Expansion ratio= Diameter of extrudate/Diameter of die
2. Bulk Density (BD):
- Bulk density (BD) is a measure of how much expansion has occurred as a
result of
Extrusion.
- Bulk density and expansion ratio are dependent physical attributes. The
increase in bulk density corresponds to decrease in expansion ratio and
vice-versa.
- High bulk density indicates a more uniform and continuous protein matrix of
the extrudate.
- Bulk density has been shown to have an effect on the texture of the
extrudates. High density will yield hard extrudate and vice-versa.
- The extrudate density is mainly affected by feed moisture. Increased feed
moisture also promotes a sharp increase in extrudate density.
- Screw speed and temperature also affect the density of extrudate. Increased
screw speed and barrel temperature cause slight decrease in the density of
extrudate.
- Bulk Density= Mass of extrudate (g)/volume of extrudates (ml)

3. Water Holding Capacity (WHC)

- The WAI measures the amount of water absorbed by starch and can be used
as an index of starch gelatinization.
- Water holding capacity is believed to have an important functional property
because of

the role it plays in the formation of hydrogen bonds between water and
polar residues of protein molecules.

- If the feed moisture is more the WHC of extrudate increases. This is due to
protein denaturation, starch gelatinization and gel forming of the extruded
sample induced by the increase of feed moisture.
- WHC is important for food systems consisting of protein or gel starch and
water because it indicates the ability of a protein or starch matrix to absorb,
bound, and physically entrap water.
4. Water Solubility Index (WSI)
- WSI, often used as an indicator of degradation of molecular components,
measures the amount of soluble components released from the starch after
extrusion. When extruded products mixed with water, this mixture will often
swell. Out of that a portion of material will become soluble..
- Extrudate products are mostly consumed as ready to snack foods or serves
used as base ingredients of many beverages as well as gruels and weaning
foods.
- The solubility of the material as a result of extrusion as well as its water
holding capacity therefore becomes important physical properties.
- The materials which are soluble include gelatinized starch; undenatured
globular proteins, inorganic ions and small sugars.
5. Product moisture

- Product moisture was found to be directly related to feed moisture and

inversely related to extrusion temperature.

- After drying of extrudates the water activity should be 0.1 to 0.33 that would
be advantageous with regard to the stability of the extrudate against microbial
growth.

- Moisture is having significant effect on product quality attributes such as

expansion and degree of cook.

- It is necessary to adjust the water content carefully to result in expansion with

protein enriched products. As proteins increase structural binding of water
which may have reduced moisture available for flash-off and consequently
less expansion.

6. Oil Absorption Capacity (OAC)

- OAC denotes the amount of oil which can be bound to matrices in a

particular food system and used as the index of hydrophobicity of the food.

- It is expressed as the grams of oil bound per gram of the extrudates.

- Oil absorption capacity is important because oil plays a role in retaining

flavor; therefore

changing the mouth feel of foods.

7. Starch Digestibility

- Extrusion cooking increased the proportion of rapidly digestible starch

which also caused
 a steep increase in vitro starch digestion.

- Severe heat treatments during extrusion cooking may cause formation of

resistant starch which good for digestion in large intestine as well as high
extruder barrel temperature could
- Inactivate the anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin and chymotrypsin
inhibitors causing an overall improved starch digestibility in extruded
products.

• Sensory properties: Color and flavor sustainability

- Any product for commercialization needs to be consumer acceptable. The

major attributes are color, flavor and texture.

COLOR AND FLAVOUR:

- It is of paramount importance that food scientists should make sure that

newly developed

foods should not only be nutritious, but their appearance, color, taste, smell, and
flavor should be

attractive to consumers. Color is the most important attribute that influences the
acceptability of

a product by the consumer.

 - The interaction of temperature and screw speed, variation in the ingredients,
chemical reactions taking place during the high cooking temperature of the
process affect the color of extruded products.
- Heat treatment of foods rich in reducing sugars may result in Maillard,
which occurs between sugars and amino acids, peptides, or proteins effecting
changes in the color, flavor.
- Maillard reaction leads to the generation of roasted, caramel-like aroma in
food, as well as gives a brown color to the food product. The reaction of the
amino acid with carbonyl group with reducing sugar gives the taste and
color to the product.
- Water evaporation and expansion of extruded products negatively affects the
product flavor. Due to the high temperature and moisture conditions inside
the barrel, the flavor volatiles comprising distilled aromatic compounds from
the material rapidly escapes along with the steam (at atmospheric pressure
conditions), thus resulting in a loss of sensory properties.
- Three different ways to add flavor to extruded products:

1. Pre-extrusion- In this method the flavouring is done along with a slurry of

oil. As the flavouring is applied externally, there are chances of faster oxidation
of product. This method also increases the fat content.

2. Post-extrusion- Flavorings are mixed along with extrusion material which

gives uniform distribution of flavors and maintains the flavor stability. In this
process, flavor losses are high.

3. Direct injection- this takes place at the end of the extrusion process, the
volatile loss is less from food but the mixing of flavor is not proper.
- There is a great potential for utilizing encapsulated flavor in the HTST extrusion
process, to get the desired flavor of the product.

- An encapsulated flavor provides the flavor protection against thermal degradation

of volatiles.

- If we add encapsulated flavor powder along with raw material, they become part
of the feed and go through a different part of processing of mixing, heating, and
shearing.

TEXTURE

- Texture is the combination of properties of food materials which are related

with the response of the structure of food to applied forces and the
physiological senses involved being vision, kinesthetic and hearing.
- Textural properties such as hardness, crispness or crunchiness are very
important for the control of processing operations to obtain desired quality
attributes of finished product.
- Textural properties of finished product are very much dependent on critical
parameters induced in raw materials such as blend ratio, feed moisture.
- Protein and carbohydrate interactions form insoluble aggregate which
subsequently decrease expansion and air cell diameter and increase breaking
strength (hardness) of the
extruded products.
- Protein-starch interactions are enhanced by the capability of proteins to
become unfolded during extrusion which results to decrease in expansion.
- Hardness increases with feed moisture but decreases with increase in
temperature.
- Crispness decreases with increase in feed moisture and increases with
increased in barrel temperature and screw speed.