Freezing

Time – Temperature Diagram of Water

Sensible Heat

Ts Tf

Sensible Heat

Latent heat of fusion

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Freezing time

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 Raw materials (choice of cultivar)

Maturity assessment

Harvest and transportation

Preparation (Cleaning, Peeling, Slicing, Dicing)

Blanching (Veg only)

Freezing

Cold storage & packaging

transportation
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Factors

• Initial product temperature

• Product size or thickness

• Surface heat transfer co-efficient, h

• Freezing medium temperature

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Freezing Rate
• Difference between initial and final temp of product divided by freezing time.

• IQF

• Case 1: freezing rate – slow

• Water starts to migrate out of food by osmotic pressure

• Enzymatic system and their substrates are released

• Prevented by – pretreatment, blanching, addition of chemicals

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Freezing Rate
• Case 2: freezing rate – rapid

• Least structure change and osmotic damage

• Cracks – surface

• Volume expansion and internal stress

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Glass Transition Temperature, Tg’
• Food – 80 to 90% water

• As temp , viscosity of interstitial fluid

• When viscosity reaches 1011 -1012 Pa.S

• Solidification

• Con. Phase surrounding ice becomes glass

• Temp at which transition takes place – Tg’

• Differential Scanning Calorimetry

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Quality and safety of frozen food

• PPP • TTT
• Product • Time
• Process • Temperature
• package • Tolerance

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Packaging Material
• To prevent contamination and damage during transport

• Moisture – vapour proof material

• Prevent evaporation (glass and rigid plastic)

• Rigid container

• Glass, tin, heavily waxed cardboard boxes

• Non-rigid container

• Heavy aluminum foil, polyethylene, laminated papers

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Changes During Freezing
• 9% increase in volume – inferior textural char. of frozen food

• eg. Potato, tomato.

• Thawing

• When con. of solute in cell increases

• Dehydration and de-naturation of proteins

• Irreversible change in colloidal system

• Texture

• Frozen lettuce – limp and wilted

• Peas, corn and lima beans

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Changes During Storage
• Volume expansion – mechanical damage to cell

• Recrystallization – decreased quality of product

• Avoided by adding large molecular weight compound
• eg. Gums and modified cellulose

• Sublimation and Freeze burn

• Denaturation

• Chemical changes
• Lipid oxidation, maillard reaction, enzymatic browning, flavour change
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Freezing Time - Plank’s Equation
• Most critical factor - selection of freezing system

• Assumptions

• Heat transfer is one dimensional and by conduction inside food

• Initial temp of food is uniform

• Freezing air temp is constant

• Latent heat is removed at constant temp (Tf)

• Properties of food above and below freezing point is different but constant

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Freezing Time - Plank’s Equation

•
f

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Freezing Time - Plank’s Equation

• P’ and R’ – constants - accounts for product shape

P’ R’
Infinite plate
Infinite cylinder
Sphere

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 Freezing Time – Pham’s method

Ef =1 for an infinite slab, Ef =2 for an infinite cylinder, and Ef =3 for a sphere

 Freezing Time – Pham’s method

Finite cylinder, height < diameter 1 2 0

Finite cylinder, height > diameter 2 0 1
Rectangular rod 1 1 0
Rectangular brick 1 1 1

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