Estimating thermal degradation in processing of foods

Abstract

Breakdown of heat-labile constituents in foods is approximated as a first-order chemical reaction, mathematically similar to the destruction of bacteria. Experimental time/temperature histories of several processes were each transformed into a single degradation value with known or assumed temperature-response ( 2 ) values. With this simple procedure, processes and processing steps that were major contributors to thermal degradation of desirable attributes could be identified and modified to minimize loss of quality. Examples are given to illustrate the procedure and some of its applications.

Modeling thermal degradation of litchi texture: Comparison of WeLL model and conventional methods

“…However, the extensive application of artificial neural network is affected by the amount of data necessary for development and validation of the model, and more importantly, the difficulty of expressing it as a universal model with coefficients and parameters. The first two models were advanced under the same theoretical assumption that the breakdown of the heat labile components is approximately as a first order chemical reaction, mathematically similar to the destruction of bacteria (Leonard, Merson, Marsh, & Heil, 1986). Nevertheless, this assumption was challenged by many studies and a more accurate, flexible and convenient WeLL model was argued to be able to provide a better choice for quantifying food thermal destruction of microorganisms, nutrients, and food enzymes (Peleg, 1999;Campanella & Peleg, 2001;Mafart et al, 2002;Peleg, Engel, Gonzalez-Martinez, & Corradini, 2002;Peleg, Corradini, & Normand, 2004;Corradini & Peleg, 2004a).…”

Influence of Acidification on Texture of Canned Carrots

“…The milder heat treatment allows canning of heat sensitive foods because with lower temperatures (approx. lOO-104°C) and shorter times, there is less thermal degradation of food attributes than with the normal processing required for the comparable nonacidified food (Leonard et al, 1986;NFPA, 1982).…”

Ready-to-Serve Crab Sandwich Spread in Retort Pouch: Product Development and Process Optimization

“…In order to extend the shelf life of such products, they are usually processed thermally (Patras et al, 2009). Thermal processing is one of the methods by which convenience foods are preserved and made available to the consumer (Leonard, 1986;Guntensperger and Escher, 1994). However, in addition to the inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes during the thermal treatment, desirable quality constituents such as nutrients, color, flavor, and texture may be altered at varying rates (Lund, 1975;Stumbo, 1973;Leonard, 1986).…”

“…Thermal processing is one of the methods by which convenience foods are preserved and made available to the consumer (Leonard, 1986;Guntensperger and Escher, 1994). However, in addition to the inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes during the thermal treatment, desirable quality constituents such as nutrients, color, flavor, and texture may be altered at varying rates (Lund, 1975;Stumbo, 1973;Leonard, 1986). Thermal processing may lead to undesired modifications such as lipid oxidation and protein degradation (RodriguezEstrada et al, 1997;Vicente et al, 2007).…”