Pages: 111

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 20

Food standardization is increasing with an increase in the demand for ready-to-eat food. The conventional technologies accelerate the deterioration rate of food quality. Ultrasound technology is a novel method which is environment friendly and hardly damages the raw material. In this chapter, ultrasound processing of food products has focused on the history of ultrasound in the food processing sector, principle, generation of ultrasound, system used for ultrasound, combined treatment of ultrasound with other treatment, and application of ultrasound in the different unit operation of food processing like inactivation of microorganism and enzymes, mixing, homogenization, freezing, extraction, modification of food properties, cleaning and decontamination, cutting, filtration, drying, emulsification, importance of ultrasound processing in comparison with other processing methods.

Pages: 24

This chapter focuses on microwave heating and its mechanism including, the influence of microwaves on the chemical constituents of food material and their sensory characteristics. It sheds light on the microwave dielectric properties and the factors affecting the same. The mechanism of microwave drying along with the applications of microwaves in freeze drying, vacuum drying, osmotic dehydration, and infrared drying are elaborated. The mechanisms of pasteurization and sterilization assisted by microwaves are stated. This is followed by a discussion on microwave-assisted extraction, with a section detailing the factors that affect the performance of MAE.

Pages: 21

In the current decade, consumers demand for more quality and safe food thereby maintaining sensorial and nutritional characteristics with shelf life extension. Such preferences in consumers have led to the exploration of nonthermal food processing applications in the food business. This chapter presents the emerging innovative technologies (such as microfiltration (MF), ultra-high voltage electric fields, high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric field, and irradiation). These provide insights into operation of the process, inactivation mechanism, process optimization, and recent developments in the application of this technique. An elucidation of the variety of foods utilized in each technique and process conditions will pave way for upscaling these technologies and for already existing technical knowledge in the food process industry, such as MF, HPP, and irradiation modeling.

Pages: 23

Drying is a thermophysical and physicochemical food process in which the excess moisture from a food product is removed. Dehydration is a process in which products are dried to very low-temperature levels. To expedite the process of drying, it is very important to understand the nature of air and the composition of products. During the drying process, the moisture present in the solids gets evaporated and diffuse in a dilute environment. This chapter summarizes the various pretreatments such as blanching, salting, acid and alkali treatment, sulfating and freezing treatment, and advanced drying technologies such as hybrid drying, infrared drying, refractance window drying, radio frequency drying, heat pump drying, and superheated steam drying.

Pages: 19

The irradiation process is the exposure of foods to ionizing energy to terminate microbes or pests, which are existing in food and to recover the functional properties of food or to remove contaminants through minimum negotiation on physical and nutritious value. Though, the highly perishable foods and foods with more bacterial content are also main issues concerning to the simple delivery besides harmless intake. The irradiated foods are harmless and price-operative procedure to improve the shelf-life and to improve its physical value. Safety of irradiated foods depends on proper standards offering indication of this irradiation technique is harmless with additional benefits. Marketable use of irradiation is still incomplete. Despite new research and development actions in North America and Europe, the operation of this method is increasing quicker, mostly for hygienic resolutions, in Latin-American and Asian region countries. Development is slower in European Union (EU). In EU, irradiation of food is controlled since 1999 by a General Directive, the Public Report of EU accepted foods that are irradiated comprises only a particular division of stuffs such as “dehydrated fragrant aromatic plant, flavors, and seasonings.” Concentration usage of irradiation to foodstuffs was improved resulting from the 1997 U.S. FDA support of irradiation for microbe controller in untreated pink meat and meat products. Irradiation of spice decreases postyield losses, safeguards sanitary quality, and enables trade with food products. This chapter elaborates on history of irradiation, process of food irradiation, emerging applications in 94food sector, legislation, safety of irradiated foods, and consumer acceptance for irradiated foods.

Pages: 121

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 33

Food systems generally consist of a mixture of complex molecules having biochemical and functional roles that are often linked with sensory attributes, which make it difficult to fully define these systems mathematically. Good model is an approximate representation of a system in terms of mathematical equations, which then helps in the process optimization, scale up, instrumentation, equipment sizing, reducing waste, energy consumption, etc. Mathematical modeling is a well-established branch in chemical and other process engineering, but its application is not fully explored in food processing. Modeling helps in reducing the number of experiments and hence time and cost. A good mathematical model should be based on unified approach to encompass many parameters in a wide range so that it could be used for many similar food systems.

Pages: 28

Understanding of food materials from the classical realm of physics including soft condensed matter physics has been an area of interest, especially in structural design engineering of food products. The contents of this chapter would help the reader in understanding the thermodynamics of food polymer, structural design principles, structural hierarchy, steps involved in food structuring, and structure measurement techniques. The method of construction and understanding of the state diagram of a food system is explained by using various theories and models. SD acts as a tool for manipulating process parameters to obtain the desired food product, and in the prediction of food structural changes during storage.

Pages: 28

In the present scenario, biotechnology has been suggested as a tool to put an end to hunger and prevent famine. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the scope and significance of food biotechnology, the benefits, and the concerns of using biotechnology in food processing. Biotechnology applications in foods include the manufacture of fermented food products, biopreservatives, probiotics, and the development of genetically modified food crops with improved disease resistance/higher-yielding capacity. Biotechnological production of food additives, biosynthesis of enzymes required for making preferable modifications/manufacturing of food ingredients, biosurfactants, bio-based packaging materials, single-cell proteins, the fabrication of biosensors, and omics tools for ensuring food safety have also gained widespread attention nowadays. The above-mentioned biotechnological applications are also discussed in this chapter.

Pages: 29

Agro-industrial waste generated is a rich source of various nutrients, nutraceutical, and bioactive ingredients, such as phenols, flavonoids, polysaccharides, carotenoids, mangiferin, vitamins, minerals, etc. These bioactive components possess various therapeutic benefits like antidiabetic, antiproliferative, hepa-toprotective, antihypertensive, antiangiogenic, antidepressive, etc. However, these agro-wastes posses certain antinutritional factors causing hindrance in digestion, absorption, and metabolism, limiting its application in various aspects. Various valorizing techniques are practiced to overcome the limitations, making the agro-waste suitable for human consumption. Fermentation is one of the superior valorizing techniques used for augmenting the agro-industrial wastes into valuable products, making them suitable for the pharma and functional food industries. The current chapter deals with the microbial valorizing approach as a novel technique and a boon source for nutrition and nutraceuticals.

Pages: 86

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 15

The Nokrek biosphere reserve of West Garo Hills in Meghalaya, India, houses the genetic reserve of the ancestor of oranges (Citrus indica or the Indian Wild Orange). In addition, Meghalaya also hosts some other species of Citrus that are endemic to the region, such as C. latipes, Citrus macroptera Montrouz, Citrus limetta, Citrus medica, Citrus limon, and Citrus reticulata, out of which C. indica, C. latipes, and C. reticulata are found specifically only in Meghalaya. The locals of Meghalaya have been using these fruits as a food and also in their traditional medicine. In this chapter, an attempt was made to study some local Citrus species of Meghalaya with discussions on the beneficial impact of biocompounds on our health. The potential for utilization of the Citrus fruits from Meghalaya as a nutraceutical to provide both nutritional as well as health benefits has been discussed. The addition of Citrus as a part of daily diet could help boost the immune system in humans during the prevailing global health conditions.

Pages: 33

Dietary sources of functional lipids include plants, meat, and bovine milk from which functional lipids can be obtained for the improvement of our health. For fortification in foods, these may be extracted from these and from other sources like seaweeds and microorganisms by solvent or supercritical fluid extraction. Enzymes can also be used to produce structured lipids mainly by the process of interesterification. Major functional lipids present and obtained from the sources include medium chain fatty acids, dietary phospholipids, and ω-6 and ω-3 fatty acids. The most important are conjugated linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and eicosapentaenoic acid. The functional lipids play a significant role in preventing chronic risks like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and atherosclerosis apart from brain development functions. For incorporation in food, these lipids may be so designed to attain certain physical properties like a specific melting point or particular solid fat content. The functional lipids can be incorporated in emulsions mainly beverages, infant formulas, and parenteral nutrition, or used in frying oils to exhibit better thermostability and flavor. These may also be utilized for the production of low-calories foods and biopackaging materials. Thus, functional lipids exhibit a high potential for incorporation in foods with respect to both health and food functionality.

Pages: 16

The technique of encapsulation protects food components from volatile losses and prevents loss of color, taste, texture, and aroma from a particular food. Many techniques are being used for encapsulation of food ingredients and components, but spray drying, freeze drying, and coacervation have been mostly used in the field of food technology. The encapsulation technique has a wide range of applications in the field as it finds its way in meat and poultry products, beverages, dairy products, bakery products, and many more. Moreover, research is being carried out to use this technique for the development of functional ingredients like preservatives, colorants, and flavors for use in food products. It provides an important advantage of decreasing production and transportation cost by converting liquids into solids. Selection of an appropriate core material and encapsulation technique play a key role in the process as encapsulation efficiency and stability are determined by these factors. In future, research needs to be done on selection of wall material depending on the physiochemical characteristics of the material to be encapsulated and on the use of coencapsulation techniques for reduction in cost.

Pages: 18

Encapsulation has received broad interest in several applications due to its capacity of preventing interactions that do not contribute to the food matrix and are also being able to improve the delivery of target compounds. In this chapter, this technique is reviewed to present different characteristics to preserve several bioactive compounds. The chapter discusses the selection of micro or nanoencapsulation processes, but also the shell and core physico-chemical properties in order to improve its final application. We also present the broadly used wall materials and encapsulated food compounds, and also highlight the process’ promising results noticed in recent researches. At the end of the chapter, the major technological challenges and advantages and future outlooks on the subject of encapsulation technology are provided.