Techniques of Food Production - 1

Author: Willard Oneil

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First Edition, 2009

ISBN 978 93 80075 20 4

© All rights reserved.

Published by: Global Media 1819, Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, Delhi-110 006 Email: [email protected]

Table of Contents 1. Food Biotechnology 2. Food Engineering 3. Food Fermentation 4. Food Manufacturing 5. Food Microbiology 6. Food Preservation 7. Principles and Method of Food Preparation 8. Modern Food Processing Methods 9. Maintaining the Taste of Food 10. Biotechnology 11. Chemical Setting 12. Culinary and Food Ingredients 13. Cold Storage 14. Flavoring 15. Fat and Oil (Food)

Food Biotechnology

Introduction New varieties of foods and food substances are being produced through modem biotechnological methods (for example, genetic engineering or recombinant DNA methods), whereby scientists introduce one or a few copies of genes into organisms used as sources of food to improve processing, nutritional, or agronomic characteristics. These new methods permit more precise, directed improvements than can be achieved through conventional methods that rely on the random processes of mutagenesis or mating between closely related organisms. Because the genes can be obtained from any organism (plant, animal, or microbe), questions have been raised about the safety and proper labeling of foods and food substances developed by modem biotechnology, Food Law In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has federal oversight, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, for all domestic and imported foods and food ingredients, except for meat and poultry, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although foods such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, flour, oils, milk, fish, and shellfish are not required to be approved by the FDA prior to marketing, the Act places a legal duty on purveyors to offer consumers foods that are safe and wholesome. The FDA has broad authority to take legal action against anyone (or any product) in violation of the Act (postmarket authority). The FDA has premarket authority to approve food additives, that is, substances intentionally added to food that are not generally recognized as safe (GRAS). GRAS ingredients are exempt from premarket clearance and include substances such as flour, sugar, spices, and many flavors and enzymes. Foods and food ingredients developed by modern biotechnology are regulated under the same effective system and stringent safety standards that apply to all other food products under the FDA’s authority.

Chymosin Rennet (now called chymosin), the milk-clotting enzyme used to produce cheese, has been obtained for centuries from the stomach of calves. The gene for rennet was introduced into microorganisms, and now over half of the chymosin produced in the United States is made by fermentation. Chymosin was the first food substance developed by modem biotechnology that the FDA reviewed and affirmed as GRAS in 1990. Theb FDA’s decision was based on the sponsor’s data demonstrating that the new enzyme had the

same milk-clotting properties as the conventionally produced enzyme; that the microorganism used to produce the enzyme was safe; and that the production and purification of the final enzyme product removed any potentially harmful substances, including the gene for antibiotic resistance used to develop the microorganism that produces chymosin.

Food Crops

In 1992, the FDA published a policy that explained how it regulates foods (including animal feeds) derived from new plant varieties, including foods developed by conventional breeding and modern biotechnology. The policy is based on current developments in agricultural research and is intended to be flexible to accommodate rapid advances in modern biotechnology. The scientific principles that underpin the FDA’s policy are consistent with principles published jointly by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization of the United Nations and by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council. The policy explains that foods produced by modern biotechnology will be regulated primarily under the agency’s postmarket authority of the Act. Further, the policy makes clear that a substance introduced into food as a result of breeding or genetic engineering is subject to the same premarket approval requirements for food additives incorporated during processing or manufacture, unless the substance is GRAS

Safety Assessment

The policy also describes scientific and regulatory issues that should be addressed during the development of new crop varieties This guidance establishes a standard of care for developers of foods derived from new plant varieties based on current agricultural practices and fundamental food safety considerations, taking into account both intended and unintended or unexpected changes in the food. Developers should initially consider the characteristics of the host plant that is being modified, the donor organism that is contributing genetic information, and the genetic material and substances that are being introduced or modified. Based on this information, other information may be needed to evaluate the safety and regulatory status of food derived from the new plant variety For example, the developer should evaluate whether any significant changes have occurred in the level of important nutrients, toxicants, or antinutrients associated with the plant, and if so, the developer should ensure that the levels of these substances in the new variety are within acceptable limits. Similarly, if the donor organism produces toxicants, the developer should ensure that the genes for these toxicants are not transferred or that the new variety does not produce unacceptable levels of such toxicants,

The policy also assists developers in determining whether a substance intentionally introduced or altered by genetic modification will require premarket approval as a food additive The policy states that newly introduced or modified substances of known function will not require the FDA review if they have been safely consumed at comparable levels in other foods or are substantially similar to safely consumed food substances. Presently, the substances introduced into food via genetic engineering are proteins, fats and oils, and carbohydrates that have been safely consumed in other foods or are substantially similar to

safely consumed food substances so that premarket approval has not been required. However, new proteins or carbohydrates with unusual structural or functional groups or oils that contain new, unusual fatty acids may require premarket approval as food additives. In general, modifications to carbohydrates do not raise safety questions that would warrant consultation with the FDA, unless digestibility or nutritional value of a carbohydrate has been altered and the substance is likely to be a major constituent of the diet. Allergenicity The FDA also identifies other instances where developers should consult with it. For example, developers should discuss with the FDA possible allergens that may be introduced into the food when genetic material is derived from an allergenic source. In one case, a developer discontinued work on a soybean modified to contain a protein from the Brazil nut after skin tests showed that the introduced protein caused a reaction in individuals sensitive to the nut. To date, no commercially available genetically engineered foods have proteins derived from sources known to cause food allergic reactions, and developers routinely test newly introduced proteins to be sure that they are not similar to proteins known to be allergens. Food Labeling The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prescribes specific labeling requirements. Labeling must be truthful and not misleading, and a food must be identified by its common or usual name. Labeling must reveal all facts that are material in light of representations made or suggested by labeling (for example, significant alterations in nutritional content) and must also inform consumers about any consequences that may result from the use of the product (such as the presence of an unexpected allergen or altered storage or preparation conditions). For example, if wheat gluten were introduced into potatoes, labeling would be required so that consumers sensitive to gluten, such as those with celiac sprue, could avoid those potatoes and any products that contain them.

The FDA’s policy does not contemplate special labeling of the method of development (genetically engineered) for foods derived from genetically engineered plants. Historically, the FDA has not considered plant breeding techniques to be material information subject to labeling, and the agency is not aware of any information that genetic engineering techniques result in foods that differ in safety or quality from foods developed via other methods of plant breeding. Mandatory, processbased labeling would not provide information about the composition of the food and often would be impractical. Voluntary labeling that a product is or is not genetically engineered could be used to inform consumers, provided the information is not misleading. Animals Food derived from animals modified through modern biotechnology has not reached the market. However, a growth hormone, recombinant bovine somatotropin, is approved for administration to cows to increase milk production in the dairy industry. Experimental fish that express fish genes for growth hormone are under development. Growth hormones used in milk production and fish farming are regulated under the FDA’s authority over new drugs used in animals. Prospects Because of the consequences that may occur if the FDA challenges a product on safety or legal grounds, producers routinely consult with the agency before marketing new products. The FDA encourages such consultations, especially when new technologies are used in food production and processing. At this

stage of biotechnology, the PDA believes that it is prudent for producers to consult with the agency prior to commercial distribution. The FDA has established procedures to facilitate consultations on genetically engineered products. The FDA has carefully evaluated the use of genetic engineering techniques to produce food and food ingredients and has not found that these new techniques present any unique safety concerns. The agency intends to be vigilant as the technology advances, and will make any necessary adjustments in its policy to ensure that foods that reach consumers are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.

Food Engineering

Introduction It is the application of engineering concepts and principles to the conversion of raw foods into safe consumer products of the highest possible quality. The entire spectrum of food engineering is associated with operation and maintenance of food processing plants as well as sophisticated research involving process design. The applications of engineering in food handling, processing, packaging, and distribution can be described in terms of unit operations. There are many different unit operations associated with the conversion of raw food materials to consumer products. The movement of foods and other materials within the processing plant requires the use of unique equipment and processes. For example, special sanitary pumps are used to transport liquid foods, and the material-handling equipment for solid foods requires careful design for product-contact surfaces. The importance of thermal treatments for food preservation requires that a broad range of heatexchange equipment be used. Heat exchangers for liquids are unique in terms of sanitary design and

cleanability of surfaces following thermal processing. A special component of thermal preservation is the design of thermal processes. Several unit operations involve heat transfer in order to achieve the desired preservation even though storage stability is not the direct result of thermal treatment. An excellent example is the freezing process, where removal of thermal energy reduces product temperatures to levels where deterioration reactions are significantly inhibited. Concentration processes achieve a degree of preservation by reducing the availability of water for deterioration reactions, although the primary aim is reduction of liquid-product mass and volume. Although traditional concentration processes have used thermal energy to evaporate water, membranes of various types are now used to achieve the same results. The preservation of food products is achieved by reduction of the water content to low levels by means of dehydration processes which use thermal energy. These processes are applied to liquid foods and to products that are naturally solid. Another series of unit operations is used to alter the product composition or structure in some manner. These include separation, mixing, and extrusion. Separation processes are designed to divide food products into two or more components. While a variety of physical or chemical properties of the product components are used in the various separation processes, two of the most important processes are filtration and extraction. Filtration, a physical process, has several applications in addition to its use for separating product components. Extraction is most often designed to remove a specific or unique product component for use in a separate operation or product formulation. After separation, the final product is obtained through the use of a mixing process which includes a variety of equipment types. Finally, the extrusion process involves the use of both thermal and flow properties to achieve product preservation as well as some specified set of structural and textural characteristics. The importance of cleaning and sanitation must be emphasized due to direct relationships to final product quality. The required operations vary considerably depending on the type of product handled and the type of equipment used. The processes required to manage the wastes generated during food handling, processing, packaging, and distribution are all similar, and many of the waste-handling and treatment operations are the same as those used directly with the food products. The final operation to which the product is subjected before distribution is packaging. The package barrier is important for maintaining food products at desirable quality levels. Food packaging involves the selection of equipment needed for placing the product in the package as well as the selection of packaging material needed to protect the product in an optimum manner. An engineering input to food handling, processing, packaging, and distribution that is applied to almost all unit operations is process control. The use of instrumentation and associated electronic controls has a significant impact on the efficiency of all components of the food delivery system. Pumps and Pumping Pumps are one of the most common pieces of equipment in food processing facilities. Fluid foods with widely differing characteristics must be pumped between many different unit operations before a final product results. Some pumps are selected for a single application or duty, and others are used for various products and flow rates. Sanitary Pumps Pumps used in handling food must be sanitary, that is, specifically designed to handle food or related biological materials, such as pharmaceutical products. Sanitary pumps are designed for easy and frequent cleaning. They are easily dismantled by removing wing nuts by hand or by using simple tools. In addition, the units are mounted to pipelines with special clamps and disconnects designed for rapid breakdown. Pumps may also be designed for cleaned-in-place systems, which reduce the need for frequent dismantling. These self-cleaning units are constructed with grooves which route sanitizers and create turbulence to help dislodge solids. Sanitary pumps must be manufactured from materials that are resistant to corrosion and the chemicals used for cleaning and sanitation. Pump rotors and casings are commonly available in stainless steel; rotors are also available in natural or synthetic rubber. Sanitary pumps should have no internal wear, and the lubrication systems for bearings and other moving parts should be completely sealed to prevent contact with the food being pumped. This is typically accomplished with single or double O-ring-type seals which may incorporate flushing systems for vacuum applications or when pumping hot fluids.

Centrifugal Pumps Pumps used to handle fluid foods will generally fall into one of the two classes: centrifugal or positive displacement. Centrifugal pumps differ widely in size and internal design, however, they all have the same basic principle of operation. The pump (Fig. ) consists of an impeller rotating within a casing and attached to a shaft that is driven externally by an electric motor. Liquid enters the pump at the center of the rotating impeller and is accelerated to a high velocity by the movement of the impeller vanes. The resulting movement—from the center to the outer edge of the impeller—greatly increases the kinetic energy of the fluid. The fluid velocity is reduced when the material is discharged by the vanes to the casing, which causes some of the fluid kinetic energy to be converted to pressure. This increased pressure causes fluid movement from the discharge section of the pump.

Fig. Internal view or a centrifugal pump Liquid is delivered from a centrifugal pump in a steady stream, that is, without pulsations. Wear is minimized because the pump has no internal rubbing parts and clearances are relatively large. Centrifugal pumps are not self-priming, and develop a limited pressure when operated at a constant speed. Centrifugal pumps are very versatile and can handle ail liquids except highly viscous ones. Large clearances make them useful in pumping liquids containing solids such as cherries, oysters, whole fish, beans, and olives. Overagitation of liquids may be a problem with centrifugal pumps if operated against high pressure. In addition, centrifugal pumps may incorporate rotor designs that provide mixing, emulsification, or dispersion as part of the pumping operation. Positive-Displacement Pumps Positive-displacement pumps operate with close internal clearances, and commonly use revolving gears, vanes, lobes, or screws in a fixed casing to bring about fluid movement (Fig.). In contrast to centrifugal pumps, fluid may be delivered in a pulsating flow. Lobes are attached to shafts that rotate in opposite directions. During rotation, fluid is trapped between the lobe and the casing at the suction end of the pump, then moved (or displaced) to the discharge end where volumetric displacement by the lobes causes the fluid to exit the system. A given quantity of fluid is delivered with each rotation of the shaft. Rotary pumps are self-priming and capable of producing very high pressures; however, excessive pressures can occur if the pumps are operated against a closed valve. These units are very useful in handling highly viscous fluids, and are also used for fluids with low viscosity. Due to close working clearances, rotary pumps are limited to fluids that do not contain large particles. ___

Fig. Internal view of a four-lobe rotary pump. Rotary pumps, available for aseptic processing systems (that is, for sterile products placed in sterile containers), incorporate design features which eliminate the possibility of undesirable microorganisms entering the product through the pump. These units operate by having steam or a sterile solution circulate between double seals at the ports, cover, and shaft of the pump.

Positive-displacement pumps may combine self-priming features with the transfer capabilities of centrifugal pumps. This may be accomplished by using a flexible neoprene rotor with a pump casing having a noncircular cross section (Fig). Rotary action of the impeller causes material to be picked up at the inlet port and transferred in discrete units to the outlet. When the rotor contacts the offset section of the casing, the rotor bends, causing the food to be squeezed from the pump. This type of design tends to minimize damage to suspended solids.

Fig. Rotary pump with a flexible impeller and off-set casing. Positive-displacement pumps may be designed with a progressing cavity. One commercial design (Fig.) involves a screwlike rotor that turns within a double-thread helical stator to form a progressing cavity in the pump. Pumps based on this principle tend to be very effective in handling highly viscous, abrasive, or shear-sensitive fluids. A second design, the twin piston pump (Fig.), alternates pumping from one piston to the other. It has large, smooth passages that allow it to pump highly viscous liquids, fruit and vegetable products with large particulates, dough, and meat products. Moving sleeves and large ports minimize product damage.

Fig. Rotor and stator for pumps operating to form a progressing cavity.

Fig. Twin-piston pump. (Marlen Research Corp.) Pumping Pumps are driven by electric motors and provide an energy input to the fluid-handling system. Power requirements for pumping are calculated by using the mechanical-energy-balance form of Bernoulli’s equation. Energy inputs must increase if the potential, kinetic, or pressure energy of the fluid is increased. In addition, the pump must overcome energy losses due to friction caused by flow through straight pipe, valves, fittings, and processing equipment, such as filters and heat exchangers. Pumping fluid foods must often be given special consideration because many products exhibit non-newtonian behavior. Common problems include time dependency and the presence of a yield stress. These properties are taken into account when calculating pipeline energy losses due to friction and kinetic energy differences. In addition, many materials (such as an emulsion like mayonnaise) are sensitive to shear, which may limit engineering design options, including pump speed and pipe diameter. Product data such as temperature, particle size, specific gravity, corrosiveness, and abrasiveness must also be considered in pump selection. Material Handling Material handling is a term used to describe the movement of materials through various stages of processing. It includes movement of raw material from a supply location to a processing plant; movement of material through different stages of processing within a plant; and movement of finished product to a warehouse or to storage. In material handling it is imperative that the movement of a known quantity of material to a preselected location occurs at the desired time while maximizing the economy of space.

Equipment used for the mechanical handling of materials may be classified as conveyors and elevators, hoists and cranes, trucks, and pneumatic handling equipment.

Conveyors and Elevators Conveyors and elevators carry material in a limited but continuous stream. Belt conveyors (Fig) involve endless belts running about end pulleys and supported along the length by a series of securely mounted pulleys called idlers. Commonly the belts are made of rubber, neoprene, canvas,, or stainless steel alloys. In situations where continuous cleaning is necessary, the return side of the belt may be scrubbed with roller brushes and washed with water sprays. A variety of modifications allows conveyors to be customized for special requirements. Belt conveyors with stainless steel cleats attached to rubber belts are used to move dry products. A slat-type belt may be useful to convey chunky products, such as cut-up chicken. Conveyors may also be mounted on scales for continuous weight measurements.

Fig. Belt conveyor. (Aseeco Corp.) Screw conveyors use a helical screw that revolves and pushes the product through a trough or a box. Commonly, these conveyors consist of stainless steel ribbons wound helically around the central shaft or pipe. These conveyors may be mounted horizontally at an inclination or even vertically, They are useful in conveying dry and slightly moist products, for example, flour, cereals, and comminuted meat.

Fig. Schematic of a bucket conveyor. Bucket elevators consist of steel, malleable iron, or synthetic plastic buckets attached to endless chains or belts running about end sprockets or pulleys (Fig. ), Usually the buckets are attached at equal spacings. Bucket conveyors raise material in a vertical plane and are used to transport dry products, such as coffee beans, sugar, and salt. To convey delicate products that must be handled gently to avoid breakage or product segregation, vibratory conveyors are used (Fig. ). Vibratory conveyors employ the principle of natural frequency to move the product gently and eliminate any possibility of particle separation. The conveyor pans are supported by springs, and the drive mechanism is tuned to resonance with the natural frequency of both springs and pans. The product moves in a “throw and-catch” mode. During the upstroke of the pan, the product is lifted gently and pitched forward by the pan. In the following downstroke, the product is caught by the pan before it reaches the bottom of its stroke. This procedure helps in avoiding impact of the product with the pan and thus minimizes physical damage. In addition, the wear of the conveyor itself is small when it is used to convey abrasive materials. These conveyors tend to be self-cleaning and avoid buildup of material. In handling wet products, the self-cleaning feature is particularly attractive as it reduces shutdown time for cleaning.

Fig. Vibratory conveyor The application of computers to control conveyor movement has become increasingly popular in plants that handle glass bottles at high speeds. For example, a programmed computer may be used to control the number of bottles on each conveyor section, and to control the speed of the conveyor belt and any associated processing machinery. Computerized control allows optimal line efficiency, lower noise level, reduced breakage by gentler handling, reduced power consumption, and reduced manual work for operators. Hoisting

Hoisting towers are primarily used for unloading purposes; the hoisted material is transported according to whether the tower is of the stationary or traveling type. Simple mast rigs are used in loading and unloading loose material with buckets or scoops. Electrically operated overhead cranes are used to raise or lower heavy loads and distribute them with the trolley traveling on a bridge; the bridge itself moves on the supporting rails. Industrial Trucks These are used in handling food at all stages of production. In the food industry, the term truck is used to include a large range of vehicles-from manually operated flat-pallet trucks, such as the ones used in supermarkets, to battery-powered equipment used in stacking loads of almost 3 tons (2.7 metric tons) to heights up to 30 ft (10 m) in warehouses. Most applications inside a food warehouse or processing facility preclude the use of an internal combustion engine as a power source, because it is mandatory to avoid product contamination from engine exhaust gases. Battery-powered equipment is used mostly indoors, while diesel-powered trucks are used outside. In comparison to a truck with an internal combustion engine, an electric truck is relatively slow and requires battery recharges between shifts. The trucks themselves must be protected from any hostile environment, such as contact with chemicals that may be used in the processing plant. For example, in a fish processing plant, brine can be hazardous to the truck body. Special construction features are used to reduce such damage. Pneumatic Systems These systems can be broadly classified as vacuum systems (negative-air systems) and pressurized systems (positive-displacement systems). The selection of a system depends on the product characteristics and rate of conveyance. In a negative-pressure system, vacuum is created by operating a positivedisplacement blower located downstream. A rotary air-lock valve connected to the blower is also used to discharge the product. This type of system has been successfully used for removing wastes from processing plants (Fig. ). Positive-airflow systems use a blower connected to a rotary air-lock valve at the feed end. The product is blown into the conveyor pipe. At the discharge end a cyclone is used to separate product from air; the product is allowed to fall by gravity into bulk bins. These systems are popular in conveying cereal grains and individually quick-frozen fruits and vegetables.

Fig. Pneumatic conveying system Tankers In transporting granular and powdered products, pressurized road tankers have become more widely used. These tankers avoid the time wasted on filling bags at the warehouse and later emptying bags at the customer’s location. Instead the product is loaded pneumatically into a tanker, which is then weighed and driven to its destination (the customer) where it is pneumatically emptied. Pneumatic transport offers many advantages, including reduced packing and unpacking costs, elimination of industrial injuries due to lifting of bags, less handling of product, and reduced rodent infestation. Hydrocyclones

Hydrocyclones (also known as liquid cyclones) are stationary devices that utilize fluid dynamic forces to separate solid from liquid or two solids of differing density suspended in a liquid. The most effective use of hydrocyclones is in the separation of protein in a water suspension of starch in starch manufacturing. In wet milling of com, primary separation of starch and protein is performed with large disk-nozzle centrifuges. The crude starch fraction (1.5-3% protein) is then countercurrently washed (Fig. ) by using small (0.4-0.6 in. or 30-15-mm diameter) hydrocyclones to remove most protein and other soluble materials (solubles). The smaller less-dense protein conglomerates remain in the overflow, while the heavier starch granules settle and exit the system in the underflow.

Fig. Starch washing system using a number of hydroclone stages. In the starch washing system, clean wash water enters from the downstream side to dilute the feed into the last-stage hydrocyclone. This step provides the necessary fluid volume for efficient hydrocyclone operation and helps to remove soluble protein and other solubles in the starch fraction. The overflow, containing protein, solubles, and a small amount of starch, is used to dilute the feed on the previous stage. Recycling of the overflow to the previous stage washes the solubles and protein upstream to the overflow of the first-stage hydrocyclone. The first-stage overflow is recycled to the primary disk-nozzle centrifuges. The number of hydrocyclone stages in a starch washing system depends upon the ease of separation of starch from protein and the amount of wash water used. Some starches, such as potato starch, require only six to eight stages for adequate washing; other starches, such as corn or wheat, may require up to 14 stages. The number of stages can be reduced if the volume of wash water is increased. About 1.1-1.8 liters of wash water per kilogram of corn (0.13-0.22 gal per pound) is used for maize starch washing. Because the capacity of individual hydrocyclone (often referred to as a cyclonette) is only 3.7 to 5.7 liters (0.98 to 1.5 gal) per minute, cyclonettes are arranged in parallel in a housing. They share common inlet and outlet manifolds. The most popular assembly, known as a clamshell (Fig.), contains approximately 480 cyclonettes. Other assembly arrangements are available.

Fig. Clamshell assembly of starch washing cyclonettes. (a) Detail showing cyclonette arrangement. (b) End view showing location of feed, overflow, and underflow streams, (c) Side view of clamshell.

Cyclonettes used in the starch industries are either 0.4 in (10 mm) in diameter, used for small starch granules such as maize, or 0.6 in. (15 mm) in diameter, used for large starch granules such as potato. Two types of cyclonettes are used in a starch washing system. The A-type cyclonettes are 0.4 in. (10 mm) in diameter with a 0.1-in. (2.5-mm) feed inlet, a 0.1-in. (2.5-mm) vortex finder opening, a 0.090-in. (2.3-mm) heavy-fraction opening, and a cone taper of 6°. This is the standard cyclonette used throughout most of the stages of starch washing. Approximately 60% of liquid flow goes to the overflow (lighter fraction) and 40% to the underflow (heavier fraction). The B-type cyclonettes are also 0.4 in. (10 mm) in diameter with similar dimensions, except that the cone taper is 8° and the heavy-fraction opening (apex) is 0.094 in. (2.4 mm) in diameter. About 70% of liquid flow goes to the light fraction, and only 30% goes to the underflow; therefore a higher starch concentration is obtained in the underflow. B cyclonettes are used in the final or last two stages of starch washing. The 15-mm (0.6-in.) cyclonettes are configured in the A or B types as described above. Hydrocyclones/liquid cyclones have no moving parts. They rely upon slurry velocity to create adequate centrifugal forces to accelerate settling of the heavier solids. Slurry feed pressures in the range 90140 lb/in.2 (620-965 kilopascals) are commonly used in the starch industry for separating starch and protein. Centrifugal separation of starch from protein in hydrocyclones depends not only on density differences but also on other starch characteristics, such as shape and size of granules. Starch size, shape, and surface characteristics can enhance or retard separation from the smaller protein particles. Larger granules are more easily separated. Because of differences in shape, surface texture, and density of starch granules in various starches, different lower limits of starch granule size may be effectively separated from the protein among different starches. For maize, granules less than 6 micrometers in diameter will have equal probability of going out in the overflow or the underflow, This lower limit is about 1 and 5 li m for rice and wheat, respectively. The probability of a particle going out with the underflow decreases with decreasing particle size for all products. Genetic variation in the starchy raw material, environmental conditions in plant culture, and postharvest drying of the starchy raw material can also affect starch protein separation. Research on 10 United States maize hybrids representing a range of cultivars showed that although the initial and final starch granule size distributions were very similar among all hybrids, the recovery of starch varied widely. There apparently are starch density differences within a hybrid and between hybrids. Uniformity of starch granule size also influences separation. A more homogeneous starch granule distribution results in better separation. A starch slurry containing approximately 35% starch by weight is commonly used, although the cyclone will efficiently separate more dilute concentrations. Higher concentrations of feed solids are preferred to increase production in the same size of equipment. However, very high concentration may plug the cyclonettes. Larger hydrocyclones are used to separate germ from endosperm and fiber. Germ separation follows the first two grinding steps in the maize wet-milling process. These hydrocyclones (often referred to as germ clones) release the hydrated germ from the pericarp and endosperm. They are operated at differential pressures of 30-45 lb/in.2 (207-310 kPa). The germ clones are commonly 6 in. (152 mm) in diameter and 3.3-3.9 ft (1-1.2 m) long. Larger germ clones [8 in. (203 mm) or 9 in. (229 mm) in diameter] are increasing in popularity because of higher capacity, and they are less prone to plugging because of their larger overflow outlet. Hydrocyclones may also be used in other solid-liquid separations such as recovery of suspended solids from liquid processing-plant waste effluents and separation of starch, soluble sugars, and fiber from proteins in ground oilseed slurries for protein concentration. In all hydrocyclone applications, the suspended solids must be carefully characterized so that the appropriate size of hydrocyclone and fluid flow rates for effective separation can be determined. Heating and Cooling Heat transfer is one of the most common and important unit operations in food processing. It is used to change the temperature of the food product and to change the phases present in the food (vapor, liquid, solid). Thus, preservation processes such as pasteurization, blanching, and canning are based on principles governing heat transfer, just as are drying and freezing processes. Heat-transfer operations are used to either remove or add heat in order to alter the physical, chemical, or storage characteristics of food

products. An example of using heat input to change a food product is cooking to alter texture and develop color and flavor. Heat removal is used to change physical form as in the production of ice cream or candies. Heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation are all employed in food processing. In the application of heat transfer, however, it is necessary to know the effects of temperature on rates of change of the physical and chemical characteristics of the food. Knowledge of food science and engineering leads to the optimum design of heat-transfer operations. The food industry relies extensively on heating and cooling processes (either indirect or direct systems) to control the quality and characteristics of food products. These systems are used with a wide variety of heating and cooling media to effect temperature and phase change. In the application of these methods, the safety of the consumer is of paramount importance. Secondary criteria as to the choice of methods include production rate, cost, energy efficiency, and waste generation. Heating and cooling methods applied to foods can be classified as either indirect or direct. Indirect Methods When these methods are used, the food product does not come in contact with the material absorbing (cooling) or supplying (heating) the heat energy. The heat is transferred to (from) the product through a physical barrier such as a stainless steel plate or a tube wall for heating (cooling). For heating processes, the heating medium is generally hot water or steam, although other heat-transfer liquids or gas flames may be used in high-temperature applications. For cooling processes, the cooling fluid is usually a commercial refrigerant cycled through a mechanical refrigeration unit. The simplest type of indirect heat exchanger is a kettle which holds the food product. The outside of the kettle may be heated by direct flame (radiation and convection heat transfer), or the kettle may have an outer wall creating a space through which the heating medium can flow. Kettles are used in batch heating processes, and the product is usually mechanically agitated to increase heat transfer and avoid local excessive hot spots and burn-on (fouling). For larger industrial operations, liquid food products are heated or cooled in continuous-flow heat exchangers. These take a variety of forms, including one with a tube inside another (tubular exchangers) and flow channels created by several parallel, corrugated plates (plate-and-frame heat exchanger), Milk is an example of a liquid food that is heat-treated in either type of heat exchanger prior to packaging and distribution. For more viscous food liquids, such as starch-based puddings and candies and vegetable purees (baby food), a tubular-type exchanger equipped with a rotating axial scraper blade is used. The action of the scraper blade increases heat transfer by removing the layer of liquid immediately adjacent to the wall and thus minimizes burn-on. Direct Methods Direct heating systems are not as commonly used as indirect systems in the food industry. In cooling applications, direct systems include cryogenic freezing (using, for example, liquid nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a commercial refrigerant), liquid immersion freezing (that is, using aqueous solutions of glycerol or sodium chloride), and cooling with ice. The systems differ largely in their cost, rate of freezing or cooling, and effect on product quality. For heating, water, steam, and air are most frequently used as direct heating agents. In each case, the heating fluid must be of food-grade quality. For water, this presents no major problem since potable water must be used in contact with food material. For air, this frequently requires some filtering treatment prior to contact with the food. For steam, this requires that the steam be produced with FDA-approved boiler compounds. Steam which can be used in direct contact with food is called culinary steam and is frequently made by using boiler steam to make steam out of deionized potable water. When steam is used to heat food directly, the condensate that is produced dilutes the food product and it may be necessary to remove this water. Frequently this is accomplished by boiling off the water (flashing) in the cooling operation (for example, exposing the hot product to a partial vacuum). In steam heating, the steam can either be added to the product (a process called steam injection) or the product can be added to a steam atmosphere, a process called steam infusion. Steam injection is the more popular industrial method. Heat transfer by radiation is best categorized as a direct method. Electromagnetic radiation in the infrared region (1-400 micrometers) is readily absorbed by water and many of the organic constituents of food, resulting in heat transfer. Infrared heating is used extensively in the baking and roasting industry. Microwave and dielectric heating are accomplished by electromagnetic radiation in the radiofrequency range. In dielectric heating, the product is placed between parallel electrodes, and the

charge or the plates is oscillated at 1000-3000 MHz/s. For microwave heating, electromagnetic radiation in the above frequency range is generated in a magnetron tube and transferred to the product located in a cavity where the energy is absorbed. Microwave and dielectric heating have somewhat limited applications because they are expensive. Thermal Processes The heat treatment of food is one of the important processes for the conditioning of food for preservation. This treatment accomplishes many objectives, including inactivation of microorganisms, enzymes, or poisonous compounds and production of desirable chemical or physical changes in foods. When compared to typical engineering material such as metals or minerals, food is relatively susceptible to thermal degradation. Therefore, to produce nutritionally sound and microbially safe food products, heat treatment should be accurately controlled in order to accomplish its objectives. To assist in this control, the temperature responses of foods subjected to heat treatments are frequently estimated by using empirical or theoretical heat-balance equations. Heat Treatment This type of processing follows different patterns. It may involve application of heat indirectly, as in a tubular heat exchanger, or it may be accomplished through the direct contact of the heating medium with the food, as in the baking of bread in a hot-air oven. The principal operations involving heat treatment of foods are blanching, preheating, pasteurization, sterilization, cooking, evaporation, and dehydration. Blanching is a hot-water or steam-scalding treatment of raw foodstuffs to inactive enzymes which might otherwise cause quality deterioration, particularly of flavor, during processing or storage. Most vegetables and some fruits are blanched before canning, freezing, or dehydrating. The commonly used types of equipment are rotary perforated drums, rotary screw conveyors or troughs, and pipe flume blanchers. Water is the predominant heating medium in drum and flume blanchers; steam is used in the screw-type blancher. Temperature is usually 212°F (100°C) or slightly lower. The length of treatment, when preceding freezing, varies from 50 s to 10-11 min.

Food Fermentation

Introduction Production of food with the aid of microorganisms, which may be yeasts, molds, or bacteria. Wellknown examples of such foods are bread, cheese, beer, wine, vinegar, some sausages, sauerkraut, yogurt, and cultured milk This article deals with fermented foods produced and consumed in large amounts by millions of people in Africa and Asia. In Japan, for example, soy sauce (shoyu) is consumed at the rate of 11 quarts (10 liters) per capita per year, and annual production is close to 330,900 gallons (1,252,600

liters). Production of miso and nntto is in the range of 625,900 and 174,200 tons (567,800 and 138,000 metric tons), respectively. Fermented commodities include cereals such as wheat, rice, sorghum, corn; legumes, peanuts, soybeans, pulses; red meat, sausages, pork; milk; fish, shellfish; and plant juices. Fermented food is used as a staple, such as tempeh in Indonesia; as a condiment like soy sauce; as a coloring agent like the red rice used widely in the Far East; and as the breadlike product produced in India and the Near East. The food may be a liquid like the fermented fish sauces of Indochina; a paste such as miso made from rice and soybeans in Japan; or a solid, like tempeh, made by the mold fermentation of soybeans.

Production Fermented foods were developed in prehistoric times and are widely produced all over the world. Their continued use results from the mild biochemical changes produced by enzymes. For example, starches are broken down to the sugars required for a second fermentation. In soybean fermentations, protein yields amino acids, and lipases act on the oil. Fermentations produce vitamins and simple chemicals such as lactic acid; improve digestibility, odor, and flavor; change physical properties; and prevent spoilage.

Among disadvantages of fermentation is the possibility of food poisoning due to bacteria or molds. Also, some fermentations are slow (taking up to 8-12 months), some product is always lost.

Microorganisms Among the molds used in food fermentations are Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Penicillium, Neurospora, Actinomucor, Mucor, Amylomyces, and Monascus. The yeasts include species of Saccharomycopsis, Zygosaccharomyces, and Candida. The bacteria are Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria, including Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Pediococcus, and Leuconostoc. Inoculum The inoculum or fermentation starter may be of four types The substrate may be moistened, heatsterilized, and inoculated with a single organism. In the commercial production of red rice, a single species of Monascus is used to inoculate rice, which eventually takes on a reddish-purple hue that imparts color to meat and wine. In a second type, more than one strain of a single species is used. Koji is the mold preparation containing more than one strain of Aspergillus oryzae that produces enzymes on rice, wheat, or soybeans. It is used in a second fermentation to make various types of miso and shoyu. A third type of inoculum contains more than one species of microorganism. Ragi is an Indonesian culture used in various fermentations of rice or cassava. Known by different names in other countries, the dry powder contains Amylomyces, Mucor, Rhizopus, yeast, and bacteria. Finally, some substrates contain a complex inoculum in which many different microorganisms of unknown identity are present. An example is nuocmam, a fish sauce. Small fish are packed with salt in earthen containers and allowed to ferment at room temperature for several months. The resulting liquid is removed and used as a condiment much like soy sauce The salt prevents the development of food-poisoning microorganisms.

Applications There are countless varieties of food fermentations in the world, sometimes known under different names in different countries and varying greatly in complexity. Of the following two examples, one is quick and simple, and the other slow and complicated. Tempeh

Tempeh is made by a simple mold fermentation, which is being introduced in the West. Only soybeans are used as substrate. Dry beans are washed and soaked overnight at about 77°F (25° C). The seed coats are removed, and the beans are boiled for 30 min, drained, cooled, and briefly dried. After inoculation with spores of a Rhizopus strain, the beans are incubated for 20-24 h at 88-89°F (31-32°C) in plastic bags perforated for aeration. Acid may be added to control bacterial contamination. The fermentation produces a solid cake in which the beans are bound together with mycelium. The product, after being sliced into thin pieces and fried in deep fat, is brown and has a nut flavor. Miso Miso fermentation is a complicated two-step process. The product is used in seasoning and as a base for soups in the Orient. Polished rice is washed, soaked for 16 h, drained, steamed, cooled, and inoculated with the mold Aspergillus oryzae. After about 2 days at 82°F (28°C) with frequent turning, the moldy rice is called koji. Soybeans that have been crushed, soaked in water, drained, steamed, and cooled are mixed with koji, followed by the addition of 2 kg (4.41b) of salt for 15 kg (33.1 Ib) of the mixture and an inoculum of special yeast and bacterial cultures. The mixture is allowed to ferment for 3 months or more and is mashed to a paste for sale. There are many kinds of miso, depending on the amounts of substrates and salt and the time and temperature of fermentation.

Food Manufacturing

Introduction It refers to a total sequence of food operations, including the growth and selection of raw materials, harvesting, processing, preservation, and distribution. In general, the aim of all food manufacturing operations is to extend the availability of seasonal crops to year-round use. Many of the technological operations involved in food manufacturing have a long history of use, beginning with the invention of fire and the cooking of foods, through the first large-scale food production industries in ancient Egypt and Rome, where bakeries provided consumers with bread. This was the beginning of manufactured convenience foods and, in addition, relieved consumers of the burden of making their own food products. The products of food manufacturing differ from traditional foods of plant or animal origin which have undergone minimal treatment. For example, the quality of apples sold in the winter can be maintained, through the use of controlled-atmosphere storage, which retards the ripening process by controlling the levels of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the storage facility. Atmosphere control is also used to hasten ripening so that fruits may be harvested in the unripe stage for ease of handling and then ripened rapidly in storage. In other cases the package itself allows the diffusion of only certain atmospheric gases and thus maintains quality. However, minimal treatment is not always directly correlated to quality and nutritional value. Foods that are harvested at optimum maturity, rushed to the manufacturing plant, cleaned, washed, cut, sorted, and processed by such means as rapid freezing are often higher in quality and nutrition than foods picked fresh and then stored under less than optimum conditions. Also, there are certain foods that cannot be maintained in a state close to the raw product. Tomatoes, for

example, are not amenable to freezing or long periods of storage, yet they represent a major crop that must be harvested within a short period of time. If it were not for processing, tomatoes would not be available for human consumption throughout the year. Therefore, such products as heat-processed sauces, pastes, and stewed tomatoes have been developed. Other food products are even further removed from the raw product: oil is being produced from seed; and plant proteins are being used as extenders or substitutes for meat, as additives for nutritious beverages, and as bases for many formulated foods. There are many other forms of food preservation representing both ancient and space-age technologies. The ancient operation of sun-drying was first employed when it was realized that dried fruits remained wholesome and edible for long periods of time. Today, with the additional knowledge that drying, evaporation, and concentration all reduce the water activity or increase the osmotic pressure of a food to the point where bacteria will not grow, this technology is used for sophisticated products such as powdered milk and freeze-dried mushrooms. Food additives, such ‘ as salt, sugar, and other solutes, which reduce the water activity or increase the osmotic pressure, and acids, which inhibit bacterial growth, also achieve the preservation effect. Many food additives are natural in origin, and their preservative effect was noted in nature prior to their use as food additives. Freezing, heat sterilization (canning), pasteurization, fermentation, baking, and meat curing are other well-known forms of preservation. Irradiation processes for food have also been developed, and low-level irradiation has been approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Food manufacturing, however, is not solely involved with the preservation of food but is also concerned with the production of high-quality, appealing, wholesome food. To fulfill these goals, five broad categories of food additives are often used: flavors, coloring agents, preservatives, texturizing agents, and miscellaneous. The last category includes a variety of substances that may retain moisture, control acidity, act as leavening agents, or provide nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. The final operation in the manufacturing process is that of packaging, which is governed by the physicochemical attributes of the food, the preservation process involved, the gaseous permeability desired, the conditions under which the product is to be stored, the desirability of viewing the product through a clear film or glass, and the expense. Historically, metal and glass have been used to package heat-processed foods; more flexible films . are used for foods which undergo less vigorous treatment. Adoption of the regulation allowing the use of hydrogen peroxide as a package sterilant has permitted the use of nonrigid flexible packages for heatsterilized foods (aseptic packaging). This type of packaging is very cost-effective.

Food Additives Generally, a food additive is any substance used in small amounts in or on food to achieve a particular result. The terms food, ingredient, and additive are neither clearly bounded nor exclusive, and use

determines how a substance is termed. Sugar in a sugar mint is a food; in a cake, it is an ingredient; in bread dough, it is a yeast food, an additive. Some additives are direct (or intentional); that is, they are added to food to restore, enhance, or add desirable characteristics such as safety, stability, appeal, and economy, or to improve the effectiveness of processing. Others, called indirect additives, occur in food, usually in trace amounts, not because they confer any desirable property to the food itself, but because they inevitably are left as a result of migration from packaging materials, or from use in agriculture, storage, or transportation. Certain direct additives may be regarded as second-order additives if they performed a useful function in some ingredient prior to its addition to a final food but lost that effective role in the final food. Thus, anticaking agents are often used in salt. If the salt was used in making mayonnaise, the anticaking agent would no longer be useful and would then be a secondary additive.

Types The daily average composition of the American diet consists of a number of categories (Fig. ). There is a certain amount of overlap, because many substances fall in more than one category

Fig. Average composition of the United States diet dry weight per capita per day. Prior sanctioned substances were specifically approved by FDA or USDA for use in food prior to the passage of the Food Additives Amendment in 1958. In the food manufacturing industry, dietary consumption is referred to as disappearance. However, actual consumption is less than disappearance because of loss, waste, and nonconsumptive uses such as fermentation and processing. The category “other natural constituents” (Fig.) is numerically enormous— probably numbering in the hundreds of thousands-and includes essential oils, resins, alkaloids, nucleotides, phospholipids, enzymes, pigments, and hormones. Some of these substances, particularly certain essential oils and their components, are used in food manufacturing as direct additives. Most of the food additives

comprise major ingredients that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), including substances such as yeast, baking powder ingredients, and common spices. Many are carbohydrates (such as invert sugar), fats (mono- and diglycerides), or proteins (albumin). The distribution of use of direct additives (Fig.) ranges from, sucrose at about 44 kg (97 lb) per person per year to some flavors and micronutrients at less than 0.1 nanogram per person per year. The median direct additive is consumed at about a milligram per person per year.

Fig. Rank ordering of food ingredients by per capita annual disappearance. Technical Effects The purpose of all direct food additives is their physical or other technical effects. Other specific technical effects can be defined, most of them related to processing, such as freezing agents, and washing and peeling aids. In addition, there are many substances that serve several technical effects. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), for example, is a nutrient supplement, an antioxidant, or a curing adjuvant, depending on the conditions of use. Also, the boundaries between the technical effect categories are not always clear; that is, some flour-treating agents are oxidants, emulsifiers may act as surfactants, and some formulating and processing aids may act similarly. White there are usually several substances available for achieving a particular technical effect, they rarely are fully interchangeable. For each application there is usually a single best choice if the requirements can be defined adequately. Legal Definition and Approval for Use The definition of food additive in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act; 21 U.S. Code 321) is far more complex than the practical definition given above. Section 201 first broadly defines the term to include all components of food, then makes exclusions: ‘The term ‘food additive’ means any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result, directly or indirectly, in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food .. if such substance is not generally recognized, among experts qualified bv scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, ... to be safe under the conditions of its intended use; except that such term does not include ... a pesticide chemical ... or ... a color additive; or any substance used in accordance with a sanction or approval granted prior to the enactment of this paragraph ...; or a new animal drug.” The words “generally recognized ... to be safe” have been lifted out of the language of the act, paraphrased as “generally recognized as safe,” and reduced to the acronym GRAS. Thus, GRAS substances, such as salt or pepper or vanillin (a flavor), though in a practical sense food additives, are excluded from the legal definition of food additive. Also excluded are pesticides and fumigants, colors such as beet juice or FD&C Yellow No. 5, and “prior sanctioned” materials such as sodium nitrite used in curing meats. In Section 409, the act requires any food additive, so defined after exclusions, to be regarded as “unsafe” unless it is either exempted for investigational use, or is used following a regulation prescribing conditions for its safe use.

The information required and the specific steps involved in approval of a new food additive, in the common sense of the term, depend on the particular legal classification of the substance, although the pattern of information in all cases is generally similar. For a substance that is legally a food additive, a petition must be filed with the FDA for a regulation permitting its use. Section 409 of the FD&C Act sets out the information required in such a petition. Included are the name, chemical composition and identity, the conditions of proposed use, the technical effect (purpose) of the additive and the amount required to produce that effect, analytical methods for determining the additive in food, and reports of all safety testing. The FDA may also require manufacturing details and samples. Neither the statute nor regulations spell out how much toxicological and related information of safety will be required. The FDA has based its requirements in each instance on an ad hoc determination of the kinds of data required to provide assurance of safe use. Expected intake, the results of previous testing, and accumulated knowledge of the toxicity of similar materials all weigh heavily. These judgments, made over years, have been collected and collated into a compilation for providing flexible general guidance called the “Red Book,” published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If the firm desiring to use the substance believes that it would be more appropriate to regard the substance as GRAS, it may petition the FDA to affirm that judgment. The data requirements are similar to those for any food additive. The FD&C Act, however, does not define which experts shall conclude that a substance is of GRAS status. It merely requires that they be “qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety.” Thus, the experts may be drawn from either the public or private sectors. Although a private determination that a substance is generally recognized as safe may seem contradictory, it is conceivable that a firm could reach this conclusion on its own, On a broader basis, the flavor industry has regularly published the judgments of a panel of independent experts on general recognition of safety, and most new flavoring substances have come into use by that route. Again, the data and judgments required are generally similar to those for all food additives. Color additives are approved by a similar process under Section 706 of the FD&C Act, except that there is no provision for GRAS status. “Prior Sanctions” apply only to certain substances approved for use before 1958 and are no longer granted. Pesticide residues on food are approved under Section 408 of the act, with generally similar provisions. A pesticide, however, must first be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the Secretary of Agriculture must also certify the pesticide’s usefulness for the purposes proposed. The Food Additives Amendment and Color Additive Amendments contain the so-called Delaney Clause. This denies regulatory approval to a substance “found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal....” With the passage of time, analytical methods have become ever more sensitive in finding minute traces of contaminants and impurities. More comprehensive and severe conditions of toxicological testing have raised both questions of possible carcinogenic potential in many materials tested and questions about the relevance of the tests to human safety. These trends have increased debate over providing more flexibility, through either administrative interpretation or legislative change, than the clause now appears to allow. Such new knowledge caused Congress to provide limited exceptions to the clause for animal drugs and nutrients. The clause does not apply to GRAS and prior sanctioned substances. Food Analogs The terms food analog, structured food, fabricated food, texturized food, imitation food, and architectural food are all used to describe foods which are considered to have equal or superior characteristics to those of the foods which they are designed to imitate. These enhanced characteristics usually involve sensory properties, better quality control, superior nutritional properties, or manufacturing economies.

Food analogs usually require a high degree of design and engineering because the food product should have unique functional and marketable properties which can be distinguished by the consumer. Food analogs are usually based on soy, and include fabricated meats, seafoods, cheese, vegetables, fruits,

and eggs. They have been available since about 1960 as novelty products, but have gained consumer acceptance as meat substitutes for vegetarians and individuals with special dietary restrictions, generally because they are cheaper than meat. In addition, they are used extensively in food service programs, especially to extend hamburger. Technologies Once the structuring mechanism or process is chosen for food analogs, customized manufacturing equipment and machinery for high-speed production conditions must be designed and constructed. Fiber Formation Fiber formation technology is based on the chemistry and technology of proteins, particularly soy proteins. Soybeans are hulled, and the oil is removed by solvent extraction. Soybean meal contains factors that must be inactivated by moist heat. For food uses, the processing may consist of simple heating and grinding of the defatted material as in the preparation of flours and grits, or of further fractionation to increase protein content as in the production of concentrates and isolates. See also: Solvent extraction Soybean protein concentrates consist of a minimum of 70% protein plus the polysaccharides, and are made by three methods that render the major proteins insoluble while the low-molecular-weight compounds are removed. One process consists of extraction with aqueous alcohol. A second process involves extraction with dilute acid at pH 4.5 (the isoelectric point and region of insolubility of the major proteins); the acid-leached concentrate is neutralized before drying. In a third process the proteins are rendered insoluble by heat denaturation; the low-molecular-weight constituents are then washed out with water.

Fig. Flow chart of the fiber-spinning technique used to prepare food analogs. (After N. R. Lockmiller, Increased utilization of protein in foods, Cereal Sci. Today, 18(3); 77-81, 1973) Protein isolates are the most refined soy proteins available. They are prepared by removing all waterinsoluble polysaccharides, as well as water-soluble sugars and other minor constituents. Defatted flakes and flours of high-protein solubility are extracted with dilute alkali at 120-130°F (50-55°C). After the insoluble residue (water-insoluble polysaccharides plus residual protein) is separated by screening, filtering, and centrifuging, the extract is adjusted to pH 4.5 with food-grade acid. When the major proteins are brought to their isoelectric point, they precipitate. This protein curd is filtered or centrifuged from the solubles and washed. The curd may be neutralized and spray-dried. Isolates are the basic ingredient of the spun-fiber meat analogs. In this process, the soy protein is resolubilized in an alkali aqueous media. This liquid may be extruded through tiny holes and then recoagulated in an acid bath in the form of fibers in a manner similar to making rayon. The fibers can then be spun into ropes, with the final texture approaching the fibrous structure of chicken or beef muscle tissue.

The fabricated tissue can be interlaced with fats, food flavorings, and food colors. The products also may be dehydrated, compressed, or otherwise processed. This process was first adapted from the production of synthetic textile fibers, such as rayon and nylon (Fig.). Because the manufacturing steps are expensive, the soy meal may be processed instead directly in a heated extruder to form an expanded cooked soy matrix which can be incorporated into other foods. Extrusion There are two basic types of extrusion technology, high-temperature and low-temperature. Hightemperature extrusion is associated with a cooking process where a number of chemical changes take place in the dough or matrix (Fig.). Examples of these are starch formed into granules, gelatinized proteins becoming thermoplastic gels, inactivation of the antitrypsin factor in soya, and soluble proteins being denatured. Cold -temperature extrusion is a process that is dependent on compression rather than on chemical reactions. With dies designed especially for the process, many sophisticated analogs can be developed by simple combination of the raw ingredient, binders, flavors, and suitable additives.

Fig. Typical high-temperature extrusion process for production of a meat or seafood analog. (After O.B. Smith, in L.D. Hill, ed., Textured Vegetable Proteins, World Soybean Research, Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc., 1976)

Food Microbiology

Introduction It is a subdiscipline in the field of microbiology concerned with the study of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that grow in or are transmitted by foods. While bacteria are frequently associated with food spoilage and food poisoning, some species preserve foods through fermentation or produce food ingredients. Food microbiology is a broad field that can include not only microbiology but also sanitation, epidemiology, biochemistry, engineering, statistics, and mathematical modeling.

Pathogens and Spoilage Organisms Some people dismiss food poisoning as a minor annoyance. In reality, the suffering and economic . losses stemming from food-borne pathogens are substantial, but they are often hidden. Annual economic losses from food-borne pathogens are extremely high. Salmonella, which cause an average of 40,000 cases yearly and 2000-3000 deaths in the United States, are responsible for about a third of these losses. Individual outbreaks of food-borne diseases can affect thousands of people. Many outbreaks are predictable

and preventable through good sanitation, preservatives, thermal processing, and refrigeration. More than half, however, are of unknown etiology are poorly understood, and may be caused by so-called new pathogens.

Historical Pathogens In the 1960s, most food-related illnesses were attributed to one of five major groups of pathogenic bacteria. These were associated with particular foods, commodities, or processes and were classified as infectious or toxin-producing. These five groups, described below, remain major causes of food-borne illness. Salmonella and Shigella The primary infectious bacterium associated with foods is Salmonella. These organisms cause gastroenteritis with symptoms of fever, diarrhea, and vomiting 12-36 h after ingestion. Salmonellosis is usually self-limiting, but it can be fatal in the old, young, or medically compromised individuals. Salmonella are commonly found on meats, especially poultry and eggs. Salmonella are easily killed by cooking. However, items contacted by the contaminated raw meat can transfer the Salmonella to food that is ready to eat (cross contamination) and cause illness. The seasonal increase in Salmonella isolations illustrates how food-borne illness increases in warm summer months.

Shigella are related organisms which produce a similar infectious syndrome. They are usually transmitted by a fecal-oral route or through feces-contaminated water rather than through foods. Closridium Botulinum The most dreaded toxin-producing organism is Clostridium botulinum. It excretes a potent neurotoxin that causes weakness, double vision, slurred speech, paralysis, and often death if ingested. The vegetative reproductive form of C. botulinum is heat-sensitive, lives only in the absence of air, does not compete well with other bacteria, and is rarely a problem in fresh foods. Clostridium botulinum spores are killed only through severe heating, such as in canning.

Historically, botulism has been associated with foods canned at home. If canned foods receive inadequate heat processing, competing bacteria are killed, air is expelled, and the botulinal spores germinate. Fortunately, botulinal toxin is often destroyed by heat when the food is cooked before serving; hence the standard advice is to boil home-canned foods before eating. Modern commercial canning is designed to destroy C. botulinum spores. Reported outbreaks of botulism caused by pot pies, potatoes, and fried onions have been caused by temperature abuse, that is, the holding of foods at warm temperatures that promote bacterial growth. Clostridium botulinum can also be a problem in processed meats, such as hams and sausages. In this case, its growth is controlled through the use of nitrite, salt, and refrigeration. One type of C. botulinum is associated with fish. Clostridium Perfringens and Bacillus Cereus These are spore-forming, toxin-producing bacteria that cause illness when foods are heated enough to kill competing bacteria but not enough to kill the spores. When large volumes of foods are prepared, cooked, and then kept warm until they are served, spores can germinate. In the case of C. perfringens, which is associated with meats, the ingested cells release toxin in the digestive tract, resulting in cramps and diarrhea. Bacillus cereus, found in meats, dried foods, and rice, produces two different types of toxins: the diarrheal toxin, which has an etiology similar to C. perfringens, and the emetic (vomiting) toxin, which causes symptoms similar to those produced by staphylococcal toxins.

Staphylococcus Aureus This bacterium produces toxins that are very resistant to heat. Staphylococcus aureus is found in the nose and throat of many healthy people and is transferred to food by inadequate hygiene. When foods are temperature-abused, the bacteria grow and produce toxin. Subsequent heating of the food kills the bacteria but does not inactivate the toxin. The toxin causes severe vomiting and diarrhea from 1/2 to 4 h after ingestion. The microorganism grows well at salt and sugar concentrations that inhibit many competing bacteria. Foods high in protein, such as cured meats, custards, and cream-filled bakery goods, pose special hazards for staphylococcal food poisoning.

Microbial Ecology of Foods Modern food microbiology views foods as habitats where different organisms compete for survival. The fact that there are 250 genera of bacteria and that only 25 of these (8 pathogenic) are found in foods suggests that foods provide unique ecological niches, Viruses do not reproduce in foods and are not competitors in this sense (the food acts only as a carrier). Yeasts and molds usually grow more slowly than bacteria and are rarely a problem in foods that support bacterial growth. Bacteria reproduce by binary fission; it takes only 20 doublings for one cell to yield more than 1 million cells. In environments where the doubling time is short, this occurs quite rapidly. Many preservation methods alter foods’ environmental conditions in order to slow microbial growth. Temperature The most important environmental condition is temperature. Most food-borne pathogens are mesophiles; that is, body temperature is optimal for growth. With a doubling time of 20 min at 98.6°F (37°C), one bacterium generates 1 million progeny in less than 7 h; at 32°F (0°C the doubling time increases to 1200 min and the 1 million cell count is not reached for 16 days. Keeping hot foods hot ( > 145°F or 63°C) and cold foods cold (<45°F or 7°C), combined with rapid heating and cooling to get rapidly beyond the growth-promoting temperature range (45-145°F or 7-63°C), prevents most food-borne illnesses. Psychrophylic (cold-loving) bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes are exceptions. Acidity A food’s acidity, quantified as pH, is another major environmental factor. The pH range for bacterial growth is 4-9, with fastest growth at neutrality (pH 7), Changing a food’s acidity can change the rate of bacterial growth. Meats, fish, poultry, and most dairy products are near pH 7, which is ideal for bacterial growth; fermented foods and fruits have pH less than 4. Many yeasts and molds grow in acidic environments and spoil acidic foods. The pH value of 4.6 has special significance because C. botulinum can grow and produce toxin above this value. Canned foods with pH above 4.6 are legally classified as low-acid and must be processed in retorts under steam at 240-280°F (116-138°C) to kill C. botulinum spores. Foods with pH below 4.6 are legally high-acid and are processed in open pans of boiling water. In this case, C. botulinum need not be killed because it cannot grow at low pH. Water Activity

The amount of water available for microbial growth, that is, water activity (aw), is the third major factor influencing microbial competition. Water activity is the equilibrium relative humidity generated by a food in a closed chamber divided by 100 to give a 0 to 1.00 scale. Salad dressings and honey, which both contain 50% water, are microbiologically quite different. The dressing separates into a 100% free-water phase (aw = 1) and supports bacterial growth, while the sugar in honey binds water so tightly that it is unavailable for microbial growth. Most bacteria grow only at aw = 0.90-1.00. Fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, and perishable foods have water activity in this range. Most yeasts can grow at slightly lower values. Staphylococcus aureus is the pathogen most insensitive to water; it grows at aw = 0.86. Since no pathogenic bacteria grow below aw = 0.85, this value has special significance in the regulations defining low-acid foods. Foods having an aw value below 0.85 are legally considered high-acid, regardless of their pH. Most molds grow at aw values as low as 0.8 and compete well in foods such as flour, cakes, beans, rice, and cereals. Some xerophilic molds and yeasts grow at aw values as low as 0.6. Dehydrated foods, with even less available water, are completely recalcitrant to microbial spoilage. Oxygen Oxygen can be favorable, neutral, or inhibitory to bacterial growth. In one process, foods are first vacuum-packed to inhibit aerobic spoilage organisms and are then partially cooked. This environment is perfect for anaerobic spore-forming microorganisms. However, the Food and Drug Administration prohibits the use of this process because of the potential botulinal hazard. Preservatives Chemical preservatives also render food environments unsuitable for microbial growth. The oldest preservative is common table salt; at very high levels, it produces water activities that are inhibitory to microbial growth, although many organisms are inhibited by as little as 3% salt. Nitrites are used in cured meat as anticlostridial agents. Acetic, lactic, citric, benzoic, and propionic acids and sodium diacetate can also be added to foods as microbial inhibitors. Considering the low levels used, the long history of safe use, and the consequences of microbial growth, the riskbenefit ratio associated with chemical preservatives is very low. Multiple Barriers Consumer preferences for fresh and natural foods make it difficult to alter any one environmental factor enough to inhibit microbial growth, and so the trend is to use multiple barriers, or hurdles. This approach employs several inhibitors at suboptimal levels. For example, clostridia may be inhibited by 7% salt at pH 7.0 or 0% salt at pH 4.6, but a meat treated this way would be unacceptable, tasting either salty or acidic. However, 3% salt at pH 6 in the presence of nitrite at a concentration of 125 parts per million provides multiple barriers sufficient to inhibit the bacteria and not impair flavor. Emerging Pathogens The demand for longer shelf life in refrigerated foods combined with their increased popularity has caused renewed concern about psychrophilic pathogens, such as Yersinia enterocolitica, and enterotoxigenic organisms, such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monovytogens. These bacteria grow most rapidly at 59-86°F (15-30°C) and, at refrigerated temperatures, can successfully compete with the normal mesophilic bacteria, thus limiting the shelf life of refrigerated foods. Listeria cause special concern because they infect women and their unborn children preferentially. Campylobacter jejuni is a pathogen that is responsible for more illnesses than Salmonella and Shigella combined. Ingestion of relatively small numbers can cause diarrhea, cramps, and nausea. This organism is microaerophilic (requires 5-10% oxygen), is relatively fragile, and shows a seasonal pattern of outbreaks similar to Salmonella, It is associated with raw meats and unpasteurized milk, and can be controlled by pasteurization, heating, and good sanitation. Analytic Approaches Microbial analysis of foods frequently requires “zero defects” in the absence of 100% testing. Legally, ready-to-eat foods must be free of Salmonella. This demands that the food microbiologist be able to detect one Salmonella among millions of innocuous bacteria in a pound of food. Moreover, all of the food cannot be tested because microbial analysis is destructive. Therefore, statistical sampling plans determine how many samples must be tested to have confidence that the whole lot is free of Salmonella. In the classical methods for counting microorganisms, a food or its hemogenate is highly diluted so that only 30-300 cells are transferred to growth media. After 2-10 days, each cell grows into a colony, and

these are counted and multiplied by the dilution factor to estimate the number of cells in the food. Automated methods have been developed that measure growth products, bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), or specific toxins; these methods dramatically reduce the analysis time and are rapidly replacing the petri-dish method. A procedure known as hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) can replace much postproduction testing. This technique examines a food, its ingredients, and its processing to identify points critical to safety. These points are then heavily monitored during production; if they are maintained, a safe product results. Beneficial Food-borne Organism When certain bacteria grow in foods, they produce desirable flavors and textures, and may also inhibit pathogenic organisms. Most of these bacteria belong to the genera Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, or Micrococcus, They are used to make fermented dairy products, meats, and vegetables, and to preserve food by converting the sugars needed by competing microbes to lactic acid, which inhibits their growth. These lactic acid bacteria are unusually tolerant of acidic environments. Acetobacter and Gluconobacter are used in the production of vinegar. Yeasts, usually Saccharomyces, which produce ethanol and carbon dioxide, are used in the processes of brewing and baking. Lactic acid coagulates casein, the major protein in milk, and this process is used to manufacture cheese. During the aging of cheese, bacterial enzymes generate characteristic flavors, allowing a wide variety of products to be made by using many different bacteria. The bacteria used can be indigenous to the milk, derived from a previous fermentation, or added as pure cultures. Until the late 1960s, staphylococcal food poisoning was a major problem in certain meat products, such as bologna, pepperoni, and salami. Since acid production by indigenous bacteria is often unpredictable, it is now recommended that defined starter cultures be used to ensure that sufficient acid is produced early enough to prevent staphylococcal growth. A novel use for starter cultures of lactic acid bacteria is to prevent botulinal growth in bacon. A small amount of culture and sugar are added to the cured meat; if the bacon is temperature abused, the lactic acid bacteria grow and produce acid to inhibit botulinal growth. Certain vegetables are preserved by fermentation. Pickles are made by fermenting cucumbers; olives and many oriental foods are also fermented. During sauerkraut fermentation, the addition of 2.5% salt (by weight) to shredded cabbage selects for the growth of Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which stop growing when acid levels reach about 0.067%. This environment favors Lactobacillus plantarum, which produces acid to levels of 1.25%, which is tolerated by L. breuis, and this bacterium brings the product to a final acidity of 1.7%. Biotechnology Advances in molecular biology have generated interest in applications to food processing. The most important contribution of biotechnology to food microbiology is the production of probes that detect pathogenic organisms much faster than conventional methods. For example, conventional methods require 5 days to confirm the presence of Salmonella in foods; probes that detect Salmonella specific DNA or antigens can give similar results in 2 days. The dairy industry has benefitted from advances in biotechnology by acquiring the ability to determine the genetic basis for the bacterial metabolism of lactose in milk and to stabilize it In addition, enzymes that accelerate the aging of cheese have become commercially available, making it possible to produce a cheese with the taste of 9-month-old cheddar in just 3 months.

Food Preservation

Introduction It is the branch of food science and technology that deals with the practical control of factors capable of adversely affecting the safety, nutritive value, appearance, texture, flavor, and keeping qualities of raw and processed foods. Since thousands of food products differing in physical, chemical, and biological properties can undergo deterioration from such diverse causes as microorganisms, natural food enzymes, insects and rodents, industrial contaminants, heat, cold, light, oxygen, moisture, dryness, and storage time, food preservation methods differ widely and are optimized for specific products. Food preservation methods involve the use of heat, refrigeration, freezing, concentration, dehydration, radiation, pH control, chemical preservatives, and packaging applied to produce various degrees of preservation in accordance with the differing use patterns and shelf-life needs of unique products. Perishability of many food materials was somewhat controlled long before the principles of modern food preservation were understood. Cheese and other fermented milk products, wine, sauerkraut and pickles, smoked meats and fish, dried and sugared fruits, and numerous other foods had their beginnings in attempts to extend the storage life of the basic commodities from which they were derived, but results were often disappointing. Optimum food preservation must eliminate or minimize all of the factors that may cause a given food to deteriorate, without producing undue adverse effects. This can be especially difficult since the components of foods may be more sensitive to preservation treatments than the highly resistant bacterial spores and natural food enzymes targeted for destruction. Many nonbiological causes of food deterioration must be prevented also, these include oxygen, light, and loss of moisture.

Heat Thermal processes to preserve foods vary in intensity. True sterility to ensure total destruction of the most heat-resistant bacterial spores in nonacidic foods may require a treatment of at least 250oF (121°C) of wet heat for at least 15 min, or its lethal equivalent, to be delivered throughout the entire food mass. Such a treatment would be damaging to most foods. The term commercial sterility refers to a less severe condition that still assures destruction of all pathogenic organisms, as well as organisms that, if present, could grow in the product and produce spoilage age under normal conditions of handling and storage. Most of the canned food supply that is stable at room temperature is commercially sterile. This is commonly achieved in canning retorts with steam under pressure at temperatures and for limes that vary, depending upon container size and chemical and physical properties of the food, which can affect heat-transfer rates and the thermal resistance of organisms. Many ioods are subjected to still less severe heating by methods that produce pasteurization to assure destruction of pathogens and extend product shelf life by inactivating food enzymes and reducing the number of spoilage organisms. Pasteurization of milk is achieved with a temperature of 145oF (63°C) for 30 min, or its thermal lethal equivalent. Since significant numbers of nonpathogenic bacteria survive, storage life is extended by refrigerating the pasteurized milk. Beer, wine, fruit juices, and other foods are commonly pasteurized, but at different temperatures. Heat blanching is a kind of pasteurization applied to vegetables to inactivate enzymes when such products are to be frozen, since frozen storage of itself does not stop enzyme activity.

The lethality of heat always depends upon temperature and time. Higher temperatures for shorter times can be as effective as lower temperatures for longer times, and appropriate combinations can be selected for thermal lethal equivalency. Time-temperature combinations with equivalent microbial lethalitv, however, are not equal with respect to the damaging effects these can have on color, flavor, texture, and nutritive values of foods. In this regard, higher temperatures for shorter times will yield products superior to those produced with lower temperatures for longer times Advances in thermal processing incorporate the high-temperature short-time (HIST) principle whether pasteurization or commercial sterilization is the goal. The application of high-temperature shorttime processing is more easily accomplished with liquid foods or liquids containing small particulates than with solid foods, since the former can easily be heated and cooled rapidly by passing them in thin layers through specially designed heat exchangers. This is done in the process of aseptic canning, where products

prepared to commercial sterility standards are heated to temperatures as high as 302°F (150°C) for 1 or 2 s and as quickly cooled, and then sealed in previously sterilized containers within an aseptic environment, Cooling and Freezing The slowing of biological and chemical activity with decreasing temperature is the principle behind cooling (refrigeration) and freezing preservation In addition, when water is converted to ice, free water required for its solvent properties by all living systems is removed. Even severe freezing, however will not destroy large numbers of microorganisms or completely inactivate food enzymes; these can resume rapid activity, unless inhibited by other means, when food is removed from cold or frozen storage. Most microorganisms grow best in the range of about 60-100oF (16-38°C). Psychotrophic bacteria thrive at low temperatures and can grow slowly at temperatures down to 32°F (0°C) and below if free water exist. Most pathogens cannot grow below 40°F (4°C). Home refrigerators commonly operate in the range of about 40 45°F (4-7°C). Some fruits and vegetables store best at temperatures of about 5OoF (10°C), and commercial refrigerated storage may be optimized for specific products. Refrigerated storage life of many foods can be extended by the use of packaging that minimizes moisture loss and controls gas atmospheres within packages.

Highest-quality frozen foods depend upon very fast rates of freezing. Slow freezing leads to the growth of large irregular ice crystals capable of disruption of delicate food textures. Slow freezing also increases the time during which food constituents can-react adversely with solutes that become concentrated by liquid water changing to ice as freezing progresses. Thus, rapid freezing has been the goal of advanced freezing processes. Commercial freezing methods utilize refrigerated still air; high-velocity air, which is faster and more efficient; and high-velocity air made to suspend particulate foods, such as peas, as in a fluidized-bed fast freezer. Indirect-contact freezing utilizes hollow flat plates chilled with an internally circulated refrigerant to freeze solid foods, or with refrigerated tubular heat exchangers that rapidly slush-freeze liquids. Immersion freezing involves direct contact of the food or its container with such refrigerants as cold brine, a glycol approved for food, or a fast-freezing cryogenic liquid, such as liquefied carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen has a temperature of -320°F (-196° C). Concentration and Dehydration When sufficient water is removed from foods, microorganisms will not grow, and many enzymatic and nonenzymatic reactions will cease or be markedly slowed. Free water that can enter into biological and chemical reactions is more important than total water, since some water may be bound and unavailable to support deteriorative processes. Free water exerts vapor pressure and possesses water activity (that is, provides water for bacteria! growth), which must be decreased below critical levels if foods are to be preserved. Sugar syrups are concentrated foods whose water activity is below that required to support microbial spoilage. Sugar added to fruit juice will bind water, lower the juice’s water activity, and, in sufficient concentration, yield a jelly that does not undergo microbial spoilage at room temperature. Concentration preservation, therefore, can be achieved by pnysicaliy removing water, as by boiling or with lower-temperature vacuum evaporation, or by binding water through the addition of sugar, salt, or other solutes. Foods preserved by dehydration contain considerably lower water activity and less total water than concentrated foods. Sun-dried cereal grains contain about 14% total water. Most dehydrated foods such as dried milk, instant coffee, and dehydrated potato flakes or granules contain less than 10% total water, and some, such as fruit juice crystals, contain less than 2%.

Most dehydration methods utilize heat to vaporize and remove water. This is most efficiently achieved when a food can be highly subdivided to produce a large surface area for rapid heat transfer into the food and rapid moisture transfer out. Liquid foods and purees commonly are atomized into a heated chamber (as in spray drying), spread thinly over the surface of a revolving heated drum from which they are continuously scraped (as in drum drying), and sometimes thickened or foamed and cast on belts that move through a tunnel oven. Solid foods may be diced to uniform piece size for more even drying and dried with heated moving air in cabinets, on belts, or within rotating cylinders to provide tumbling action. Fluidized-bed dryers use high-velocity air to suspend particulates for still faster drying. The heat and oxygen sensitivity of many foods necessitates vacuum dehydration for high quality. Under vacuum, water can be removed at reduced temperature, and oxidative changes are minimized. Solid foods tend to shrink and undergo shape distortion when they are dried. This can be overcome by freezedrying whereby foods are frozen quickly and placed in a chamber under high vacuum. Vacuum and temperature conditions are regulated to promote sublimation of water vapor from the ice phase without the ice melting. The food’s structure remains rigid as it goes directly from the frozen state to dryness. Because of its gentleness, freeze drying is also used to dehydrate liquid foods such as coffee. A disadvantage of freeze-drying, however, is that it is more costly than other drying methods. Irradiation X-rays, ultraviolet light, and ionizing radiations (including gamma and beta rays) belong to the electromagnetic spectrum of radiations and differ in frequency, wavelength, penetrating power, and the effects upon biological and nonbiological systems. Ionizing radiations may be obtained from radioactive isotopes, such as cobalt-60, or from electron accelerator machines. These radiations penetrate foods and exert their major effects by producing free radicals from water and other substrates. Depending upon dose intensity, these radiations can inhibit the sprouting of tubers, destroy insects, inactive some enzymes, and kill microorganisms to the point of pasteurization or sterilization. Food irradiation remains highly controversial, partly because of fears that the safety of products and processes cannot be adequately regulated. In the United States, treatment of spices to destroy microbial contamination is among the very few applications that are permitted. Several other countries permit wider use of food irradiation, including low-dose irradiation pasteurization to extend the storage life of highly perishable fruits and vegetables, poultry, and seafoods. pH Control Hydrogen-ion concentration affects the rate and course of a great variety of chemical reactions, Microbial growth and metabolism and the activities of food enzymes exhibit pH optima and can be controlled to various degrees beyond these optima. The natural acids of certain fruits and vegetables, acid added as a chemical, and acid produced by fermentation can inhibit or partially inhibit several pathogenic and spoilage organisms. Clostridium botulinum, the most heat-resistant pathogen found in foods, will not grow and produce toxin at a pH of 4.6 or below. Therefore, foods with a pH in this range do not constitute a health hazard from this organism, and they do not require heat processing as severe as that required for more alkaline foods. Further, acid enhances the lethality of heat, often permitting milder heating conditions. The pH of acidic foods, however, is rarely sufficiently low to assure long-term preservation from acid alone. Many acidic and fermented foods further depend upon prior pasteurization of their ingredients, the addition of salt and other chemicals, and refrigeration.

Chemical Preservative The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and comparable agencies in various countries vigorously regulate the chemicals that may be added to foods as well as the conditions of their use. Chemical preservatives and similar substances include antimicrobials, such as sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, and sodium nitrite; enzyme inhibitors, such as sulfur dioxide, to control browning of fruits and vegetables; and antioxidants, including butylated hydroxyanisoie (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), to help control fat rancidity. New chemicals must undergo rigorous testing to be approved, and approved chemicals may subsequently be prohibited when new information relative to safety warrants such action. There is much pressure to remove chemicals from the food supply, especially where their effects can be achieved by other means.

Packaging Preservation methods cannot be effective without adequate packaging. Packaging protects foods from contamination, moisture gain or loss, flavor loss and odor pickup, the adverse effects of light, physical damage, and intentional tampering. Packaging enables food to be stored under vacuum, inert gases, or carefully selected gases that can control respiration of fruits and vegetables, biological changes in meat, and growth of microorganisms. Packages and packing materials must be carefully chosen to withstand the stresses of heating, freezing, and other operations since many products are processed within their final containers. Ultimately, a food product’s quality and storage life are determined largely by its package.

Principles and Method of Food Preparation: The Art of Cooking The quality of food, which includes nutritional value, appearance and taste plays vital role in hotel business. Therefore, hereunder, we will discuss various aspects to this concept, the art of cooking, in brief. PRINCIPLES OF COOKING Principles of Cooking may be listed as follows: 1. All foods must be cooked in a way that ‘keeps the flavour in’. 2. Sometimes the flavour of the food is ‘drawn out’ into the gravy or broth. 3. The preservation of the maximum nutritive value can be ensured by using correct methods suited to the particular foods. The process of subjecting foods to the action of heat is termed as cooking. Food can be cooked by various methods to make it edible. Dry Heat Methods Water is not used as a medium in this method. Roasting Food is brought into direct contact with the heat source. The food is periodically coated with fat and turned over the fire from time to time to cook it evenly. It can be done on live coals, under a grill, in the tandoor or any other oven. Temperature? to be maintained is 350°C to 375°C. The term roasting is applied to meat cooking. It is of three types. (a) Spit Roasting: The food to be cooked is brought in contact with direct flame in front of a clear bright fire. The food is basted over with fat and is also turned regulafly to ensure even cooking and browning, e.g. Barbecued meat.

(b)

Oven Roasting: This is cooked in a closed oven with the aid of fat. The food is put into a very hot oven for 5 to 10 minutes and the temperature is lowered to allow the joint to be cooked.

Cooking in an oven for a longer time produces a better cooked joint than cooking at high temperature for a shorter period as the meat retains its moisture and flavour.

(c)

Pot Roasting: This method is used to cook small joints and birds if no oven is available, but a thick heavy pan is essential. Enough fat is melted to cover the bottom of the pan. When the fat is hot the joint is browned. It is then lifted out and 2 or 3 skewers are kept at the bottom on which the joint is placed. This is to prevent the joint from sticking to the pan. The joints should just touch the fat. The pan is then covered tightly with a well fitting lid and cooked over a very log fire. Prepared root vegetables and potatoes can also be cooked round the meat.

Broiling or Grilling The food is placed on a metal grill directly over or below the source of heat either gas or electricity. Under the heater, the food is heated by radiation only. This results in browning of various foods. Then the heat is more slowly conducted through the surfaces of the food downwards. If the food is above the heater, heat is transmitted to the food through convection currents, as well as radiations with consequent increased efficiency. This method is usually used for tender cuts of meat, poultry, etc. and when foods need to be

browned as made crisp on the surface, e.g. pizzas, sausages, bacon, etc. When food is cooked uncovered on heated metal or a frying pan, it is known as pan-broiling.

Baking It requires an oven or tandoor as any equipment in which hot air circulates around the food placed in the action of dry heat is combined with the steam generated from the food during cooking (Foods baked are generally brown and crisp on the top and soft and porous in the centres e.g. cakes, breads, puddings, vegetables, biscuits, pastries, potatoes, meat dishes in sauce etc. Temperature maintained in this is 120°C to 160°C. Baking involves heat transfer from the heat source in the oven by radiation, conduction and convection..

Frying In frying the food is cooked in hot fat. Fat has very much higher boiling point than water. Frying can be done by different ways: (a) Sauteing: This method involves cooking food in just enough fat or oil coat base of the pan in which the cooking is done e.g. Dosa. The food is tossed occasionally or turned over to enable the pieces to come in contact with the oil or fat and evenly cooked and prevents food from sticking to the pan. The heat is transferred to the food mainly by conduction.

(b)

Shallow Frying: Sufficient quantity of fat is used in the pan and food is turned to cook both sides equally as it is done for paratha, omelette, pancake, and tikki. Heat is transferred to the food partially by conduction and partially by convection currents.

(c)

Deep Frying: It is done in a deep saucepan or kadai that contains excess quantity of fat or oil to immerse the food fried. Potato chips, bonda, pakoras and puris are deep fat fried preparations. For satisfactory results food should be fried in fats and oils heated to 320°C. Fat can be heated to a much higher temperature than the boiling point of water, so cooking is rapidly completed. In most foods, this high temperature results in a hard, crisp surface, usually brown and the absorption of a fair amount of fat which raises the calorific value of the food substantially.

(d)

Fricasseeing: It is cooking in a small amount of fat and then serving with sauce.

MOIST/WET HEAT METHODS Heat is transferred through water or liquid i.e. fat. 1. Boiling: Cooking foods in water that is bubbling constantly over the food in a pan. The temperature of the water is 100°C when it boils e.g. potatoes, eggs, sweet potatoes, rice etc.

2.

Simmering: It is done at 85° to 90°C temperature when foods are cooked in water or liquid which is not bubbling vigorously as in boiling. Very tiny bubbles come to the surface and break. This method takes longer to cook food than boiling e.g. cuts of meat used for stews or stock preparation.

3.

Blanching: In this method of cooking the food is usually dipped in boiling water for 5 seconds to 2 mm, depending on the texture of the food. The purpose of this method is to remove peels of

fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. easily without changing their texture too much. The process of subjecting foods to boiling temperature for short period is known as blanching.

4.

Steaming: It requires food to be placed in a vessel in which steam can enter and cook the food. The steam is generated by boiling water in a pan and another pan is placed in water. The second pan contains the food to be cooked e.g. Idlis, khaman, dhokla and other fermented products. This food is easily digestible, nutritious and full of flavour While in waterless cooking the steam originates from the food itself. Cooking food wrapped in an aluminium foil or in a plastic bag is a form of waterless cooking.

5.

Pressure Cooking: This is a method of cooking food by steam under pressure. While water boils at 100°C at normal atmospheric pressure, it boils at 121 °C at a pressure of 1.07 kg/cm2 which is the pressure at which food is cooked in a kitchen pressure cooker (food is cooked at 100°-112°C). It is a quicker method than pan steaming generally done in pressure cooker. The

shorter cooking time enhances nutrient retention and palatability e.g. curries, soups, broths, stews, etc.

6.

Poaching: This method involves cooking in a small amount of liquid at a temperature, just below the boiling point (simmering). Foods generally poached are eggs, fish, fruits etc.

7.

Stewing: This is a gentle method of cooking in a pan with a tight fitting lid, using small quantities and the other half in the liquid is cooked at simmering temperature (98°C). It is usually used for cooking meat, dals, etc.

Other Methods 1. Braising: This is a combined method of roasting and stewing. It is cooking over direct heat or in an oven in a small amount of liquid at a low temperature with the pan tightly covered.

2.

Solar Cooking: It is a method of cooking food by converting the solar energy into heat energy. Solar cooker is placed at such an angle that the mirror reflects the sun’s rays into-the food placed in the container. The containers are blackened to absorb the maximum of the sun’s heat.

3.

Infra-red Radiation of Microwave Cookery: The food to be cooked is placed in an electronic oven where it is exposed to the penetration of microwaves produced by a magnetron tube. The microwaves cause agitation of the molecules within the food so that heat is generated. The microwaves can be absorbed, transmitted or reflected and they can pass through paper, china and glass. Cooking time is shortened to ten times less than may be needed by conventional methods.

DETAILS OF SOME FOOD PREPARATION TECHNIQUES Details of some techniques may be listed as follows: 1. Stock Soup: Stock soup is prepared from liquid in which meat and bones have been slowly simmered for many hours in a stockpot with herbs, seasonings or vegetables added late in the cooking. For good stock soups-Simmer many hours to help extract and develop flavour. Drain, filter and refrigerate promptly to preserve quality. Remove the top fat after refrigeration. Remove the fat that congeals on top after refrigeration.

2.

Cream Soup: Cream soup has a thickening agent like white sauce thoroughly cooked and blended with (tomatoes or vegetables) purees. For good cream soups:Use thin white sauce, made from vegetables stock Hold just below boiling point For tomato soup, add seasoned tomato-cream sauce just before serving Add salt at the end

3.

Meat Preparation; The appropriate meat preparation method depends on the grade of meat and on the cut. Meat should be cleaned and cut properly. Wash with minimum of cold water. Moderate temperature is best for slow cooking.

4.

Steaks: Broiling of steak is a method of dry heat cooking. Practice is needed to control time and temperature for doneless of various thickness of steaks, surface should be browned and uniform. In India very few hotels use electrical deep fat fryer. Meat chops, cutlets scotch eggs are prepared for deep fat frying. Oil must be ready at a suitable temperature before anything is deep fried.

5.

Fish: In hotels only limited variety of fishes are used. Sole, Arh, Pomphret, Bhetki are largely used. These must be scaled, cleaned and cut accordingly before cooking-Chilled and frozen fishes are also used. Overcooking and overhandling should be avoided, these should be seasoned with salt, turmeric and herbs. Fish may be baked also with buttered crumbs and seasoning. For deep fat frying, use bater (Nisam) and fry at 180°C. Cooked fish should be flaky and moist not tough and dry.

6.

Eggs: Eggs cooked in their shells are often served for breakfast or used in salads.

Eggs placed in boiling water are soft cooked in three minutes, medium cooked in four minutes. Hard cooked in 12 minutes. Cook below boiling point for tenderness. If eggs are warmed for a few minutes in lukewarm water, they are less likely to crack in hot water. After cooking eggs should be immediately put into cold running water to halt cooking process. Hard cooked eggs are easier to shell immediately after cooking and cooling in cold running water. Slice with egg slicer for even slices.

7.

Scrambled Eggs: Scrambled eggs are easily prepared in quantity. When done they should be tender and moist, not rubbery and tough. Undercook rather than overcook.

8.

Poached Eggs: Eggs may be poached in frying pan filled with water. High quality eggs will hold compact shape better. Water temperature should be near boiling point when egg is gently slid into hot water. Remove from water with perforated spoon. Time for soft eggs is three to five minutes.

9.

Vegetable Cookery: Purchase fresh vegetables of suitable size and maturity. Store under proper conditions. Use short cuts and machines in preparation to reduce time and waste. Avoid excessive peeling and handling. Use vegetables in natural state and in whole pieces when possible. Cover prepared vegetables with damp cloth until ready to cook. Green colour of the vegetables is retained if cooked in alkaline medium.

10. Cooking Fresh Potatoes: Use potatoes of uniform sizes and shapes. Peel in vegetables peeler, if available. Be careful not to waste food by overloading or running the peeler too long.

11. Preparing Mashed Potatoes: Mash freshly cooked potatoes in a mixer using a paddle, mash while hot and allow steam to escape. Add hot milk or dried milk with hot water, and butter and seasoning, Overmashing should be avoided.

12. French Fried Potatoes: Use french-fry cutter for even sizes. Soak briefly in salt water to reduce starch, shorten cooking time and reduce fat absorption. Dry to prevent deterioration of fat. Use a fryer with temperature controls if possible.

13. Onion: Select and peel mild-flavoured onions. Cook in salted water in unperforated basket in steamer without overloading. Sliced and chopped onions should be used as and when required and should not be stored.

14. Legumes: Dried legumes may be cooked in pressure cooker, Sometimes soaked overnight in water and eating soda added at the time of cooking.

Modern Food Processing Methods

Food Technology, or Food Tech for short is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe, nutritious, and wholesome food. Food scientists and food technolgists study the physical, microbiological, and chemical makeup of food. Depending on their area of specialisation, Fdod Scientists may develop ways to process, preserve, package, Or store food, according to industry and government specifications and regulations. Consumers seldom think of the vast array of foods and the research and development that has resulted in the means to deliver tasty, nutritious, safe, and convenient foods. In some schools, food technology is part of the curriculum and teaches, alongside how to cook, nutrition and the food manufacturing process. History of Food Technology Research in the field now known as food technology has been conducted for decades. Nicolas Appert’s development in 1810 of the canning process was a decisive event. The process wasn’t called canning then and Appert did not really know the principle on which his process worked, but canning has had a major impact on food preservation techniques.

Louis Pasteur research on the spoilage of wine and his description of how to avoid spoilage in 1864 was an early attempt to put food technology on a scientific basis. Besides research into wine spoilage, Pasteur did research on the production of alcohol, vinegar, wines and beer, and the souring of milk. He developed pasteurisation—the process of heating milk and milk products to destroy food spoilage and disease-producing organisms. In his research into food technology, Pasteur became the pioneer into bacteriology and of modern preventive medicine. The founding of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1970 has led to the general use of the term, “food technologist.” By 1945, the original four departments that had taught the subject under different names had changed their departmental titles to food science or food science and technology or some variant of these. These four universities were: the University of Massachusetts; the University of California. Developments in Food Technology Several companies in the food industry have played a role in the development of food technology. These developments have contributed greatly to the food supply. Some of these developments are: • Instantised Milk Powder :- D.D. Peebles developed the first instant milk powder, which has become the basis for a variety of new products that are rehydratable in cold water or milk. This process increases the surface area of the powdered product by partially rehydrating spray-dried milk powder. • Freeze Drying - The first application of freeze drying was most likely in the pharmaceutical industry; however, a successful large-scale industrial application of the process was the development of continuous freeze drying of coffee. • High-Temperature Short Time Processing - These processes for the most part are characterised by rapid heating and cooling, holding for a short time at a relatively high temperature and filling aseptically into sterile containers. • Decaffeination of Coffee and Tea - Decaffeinated coffee and tea was first developed on a commercial basis in Europe around 1900. The process is described in U.S. patent 897,763. Green coffee beans are treated with steam or water to around 20% moisture. The added water and heat separate the caffeine from the bean to its surface. Solvents are then used to remove the caffeine from the beans. In the 1980s, new non-organic solvent techniques have been developed for the decaffeination of coffee and tea. Carbon dioxide under supercritical conditions is one of these new techniques. Food Techology: Emerging Trends Today, our knowledge of biology and biological processes emerging from genomics guide our approaches to agriculture and food production toward sustainable, safe, nutritious, and delicious products. Functional genomics is a term which has been applied to the field of discovering gene activities, and is a logical followup to genome acquisition. A beneficial by-product of functional genomics investigations will be the ability to use our mechanistic understanding of biology’s structures and functions to manipulate a variety of organisms and biological materials to address specific food processing targets. As we become more familiar with the biochemical composition and structure of foods, with the metabolic needs of both pathogenic and commensal bacteria, and with the flow of biochemicals through metabolic pathways of plants, animals, and humans, we will acquire previously unknown dexterity in product development. Bioguided processing refers to using our mechanistic understanding of biology to guide the processing of biomaterials for specific structures and/ or functions as foods. More specifically, it incorporates biological structure and functional knowledge to process foods in such a way as to retain and concentrate their nutritive value, rather than using chemical and physical processes which eliminate the biological specificity of the raw materials. Contemporary separation operations in food processing schemes generally fractionate food constituents based on physical characteristics such as density, polarity, solubility, and size. Separation processes are monitored and streamlined on technological and not biological criteria. In fact, traditional food processing is largely designed to eliminate the unique properties of specific molecules. Instead, all biomolecules of a particular class, e.g., proteins, are exposed to substantial physical, thermal, and mechanical energy to make these properties uniform. This serves to restructure the material into more stable and/or more bio-available food systems. Processing replaces the biological complexity of biopolymers with the statistical average properties of their broad class, i.e., proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Such aggressive, nonspecific processing is designed to eliminate the deleterious and potentially antinutritive properties of food commodity organisms.

Without these treatments, factors such as toxins, protease inhibitors, and hydrolytic or oxidative enzymes render the food unpalatable or, worse, overtly antinutritious. Unfortunately, such processing also eliminates potentially valuable structures and activities. Bioguided processing, in contrast, is intended to account for the inherent biological composition of raw materials. Processes and separations are designed around specific organisms or biomaterials to utilize their unique properties and retain their biological and nutritive values. Bovine and ovine milks are ancient components of the human diet, and many techniques developed to process and preserve these foods predate the Common Era. Through empirical observation, early humans learned to exploit the biochemistry of milk to produce more stable products such as cheese and butter. Brewing and winemaking are two other examples of early man’s successful mixing of two processing streams to produce highvalue, microbially stable end-products. In all these processing scenarios, part of the nutrition of the raw material is sacrificed in the short term, so that a morestorable commodity is available longterm. Although calories of the fermentable carbohydrate are sacrificed for microbial stability, the utilisation of this carbohydrate by the beneficial bacteria provides all the energy input needed to facilitate the product bioconversion. Bioguided processing approaches have been discovered empirically and passed down as food technology through the centuries. A brewer cannot use raw barley to brew beer because the starch is physically inaccessible and therefore not fermentable by yeast. Instead, the germination process has been coopted by maltsters to induce the catabolic enzymes responsible for endosperm conversion and starch hydrolysis. As another example, while we are all familiar with the leavening effect yeast has on the dough during bread making, it is perhaps the reduction in phytic acid by microbial phytases which drove the development of this process by our ancestors. An inhibitor of mineral absorption, phytic acid represents 1% of wheat kernels, and thus is a substantial antinutritive factor in raw wheat. Yeast fermentations of dough carry out a highly specific biochemical conversion of the product, rendering more nutritious, while consuming only a small amount of the fermentable carbohydrate and leaving the structure of the dough relatively intact. New Trends in Food Processing Although our forebears had no knowledge of the underlying biochemistry employed in these conversions, they were able to discover, manipulate, and finally optimise these processes empirically in processing their raw materials. It is precisely the successes of foods such as cheeses, breads, fermented and cultured products, etc., that provide the promise of increased biological utilisation for control of food processing.

The driver for the development of early biotechnology was the advantage that a community gained by storing nutritious food in times of plenty. Interestingly, the adaptation of these technologies to different territories and climates, and the subsequent optimisation of the organoleptic properties of the resulting products has led to the array of styles of cheese, wine, and beer that are increasingly valuable even today. However, taking such a perspective into new commodities and new foods requires that the specific details of both desired and undesired structures are known, In the past, trial and error repeated over generations yielded success. Now, trial and error will not suffice. Advances in analytics combined with genomics offer a new pathway to investigations into the composition and structure of raw materials.

Bioguided Processing of Milk Through application of modern bioinformatic tools, the study of milk’s synthetic genes, molecular physics of assembly in the epithelia, and digestive disassembly and nutritional targets in the neonate is providing an expanded view of nutrition. Such approaches will provide new principles and analogies to the bioguiding of raw materials for various food purposes. The molecules and structures present in milk play roles in its secretion from the mammary gland, its delivery of nutrients to the neonate, and its other roles as a food. Furthermore, evolutionary selection for nutritional value was the guiding principle for all of milk’s structures, constituents, and processes. A thorough understanding of the structural results of the evolutionary pressure on milk and in particular the nutritional nanotechnology that has been incorporated into the structure of milk, will allow us to guide the synthesis and processing of new foods with unique health properties. Although milk at one time was viewed only as an exogenous supply of nutrients for the infant, during the past few years bioactive components, with health effects disproportionate to their concentration, have continually been discovered and characterised. Milk is not simply a collection of nutrients appropriate for the neonate, but rather a dynamic structured material which has been designed by evolution to interface with a young mammal’s biology. In a particularly intriguing study, children drinking low-fat bovine milk were five times more likely to require medical care for acute gastrointestinal illness than children drinking whole milk. This latter study implicates that it is the cream fraction, absent from skim milk, which may provide benefits to intestinal function and protection. Milk is the product of mammalian genes, and the components of milk are the successes of evolutionary experimentation in nutrient vehicles. Therefore, lactation, and the subsequent milk produced, provides a distinct nutritional model for intensive deconstruction of a successful mechanistic system of food processing for nutrition. Uncovering the nutritional functions of the bioactive components of milk can be approached in unique ways by applying some of the emerging bioinformatic and knowledge tools of the genomics revolution. For example, crossspecies comparisons of the compositions and structures of mammalian milks with the level of development of the immune system and gastrointestinal tracts of the neonate is a point of access for investigations into milk bioactivity. Beyond the aggregate sum of bioactive nutrients, milk is processed, assembled, and delivered in a compartmentalised fashion. Although the compartmental characteristics may well influence milk’s various functionalities, they are largely unstudied, in part because it has been difficult to investigate as an isolated variable. As scientists gain an understanding of the mechanisms by which these constituents function in the neonate, both individual nutrients and structural composite levels, they become potential beneficial dietary interventions for children and adults. Furthermore, a better understanding of the variation of individual metabolism proscribed by genotype will facilitate the design of diets to optimise personal nutrition and food processes to deliver them. In the epithelia of the mammary gland, fat globules are extruded from the surface of the cells into the alveolar lumen through a modified reverse endocytosis process. As a result of poorly understood events at the plasma membrane, all of the globules synthesised within the endoplasmic reticulum acquire a coat of apical plasma membrane from the host cell. Apart from certain viruses that share a similar excretion process, this mechanism of globule secretion from noninfected cells is unique in eukaryotic biology. Accordingly, much research on the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) has centered on uncovering the biochemical mechanisms underlying its formation. Even when we have a better understanding of this unusual event, the process itself will not necessarily provide answers as to why it occurs. The MFGM certainly plays a role in stabilising the fat globules against coalescence in the alveolar lumen, and it may confer some passive immunity to the nursling by binding enteric pathogens. Infant mammals lack a fully developed immune system at birth, and considerable immune protection, both humoral and passive, is supplied by the milk of the mother. That MFGM is enriched in colostrums, the first milk expressed from the mammary gland, suggests that it may play a role in mediating immunity and development at this crucial junction. Since the gastrointestinal tract of a newborn human lacks the resident microflora of an adult, colonisation must take place after birth to assure normal function and activity. Certain components of a mother’s milk have been observed in scientific studies to selectively stimulate the growth of the beneficial microbes at the expense of others. Supplementation of infant formula with gangliosides, a component of the MFGM, affected the intestinal microflora of preterm newborns by increasing the bifidobacteria content and lowering the level of Escherichia coli. A possible role for the MFGM is to simulate infant epithelial membrane in vivo, and thus

serve as a decoy for intestinal pathogens. Although the membrane makes up between 1 and 5% of the lipid fraction, the surface area in 1 mL of mature human milk is estimated to be 500 cm2, and the proportion is higher in colostrum. Although the MFGM contains a significant portion of the compositional diversity of milk, and although its constituents are rich in micronutrient and trophic bioactivity, it is essentially processed out of the dairy products available today. In the current bovine milk-processing scheme, fluid milk is collected and then separated into the skim and cream fractions via centrifugation. Cream is added back to the skim fraction to create fluid milks of varying fat content. Other products, such as half-and-half, yogurt, and ice cream, are produced from mixtures of skim milk and cream, and excess cream is used to make butter. In the process reversing the oilin-water emulsion of cream to a water-in-oil emulsion of butter, an aqueous by-product-butter-milk- is produced. The exact composition of this material is affected by both the composition of the cream and the processing conditions. Traditional buttermilk, which is compositionally different from commercially available buttermilk, is rich in MFGM. When butter was produced at home, the aqueous phase remaining in the churn after removal of butter was often allowed to sour, and the resulting tangy liquid was sometimes used in baking. Anecdotal health claims have surrounded consumption of buttermilk for years. According to Irish lore, this liquid can assuage the symptoms of excess alcohol consumption and when heated with a clove of garlic serves as the cure for a variety of ailments. Pioneer women reputedly used buttermilk as a facial wash, and, not surprisingly, this material is rich in ceramide, a major skin lipid. As buttermilk had no clear end-point application in early industrial butter production, like whey it was viewed in processing plants as a waste product and discarded. This process was wasteful and increased biological oxygen demand down-stream from the processing plant. Buttermilk is now spray-dried and sold as buttermilk solids. Although the lipids from the MFGM are recoverable from buttermilk, the polyunsaturated fatty acids of the phospholipids are labile to oxidation, and subsequent rancidity during spray drying thus compromises the nutritional and organoleptic properties. As milk contains a myriad of beneficial components and structures, there is an opportunity for future bioguided processing to focus on creating dairybased products designed to deliver specific nutritional benefits to consumers, while creating little or no waste. Bioguided Processing Bioguided processing encompasses using the biology inherent in a raw material to design processing streams and endpoint applications. In designing such a scheme, factors affecting the precise composition of the raw material should be addressed first. Numerous studies have focused on the relation between a mother’s diet and her milk composition, and this information may be useful in designing diets for the specific enrichment in milk of a particular chemical species associated with health. Alternatively, the elucidation of the metabolic pathways responsible for the ratios of different molecular species in milk and their subsequent manipulation through slight perturbations of metabolic pathway-flux may be used to produce milks with different compositions.For example, human MFGM contains tenfold more of the beneficial ganglioside GM1 than does bovine MFGM. Thus, a slight increase in the flux through the synthetic pathway of this molecule may result in bovine milk, or a product thereof, similar to the product evolutionarily designed for human consumption. A further extension of this ideology is the manipulation of the intestinal flora of dairy cows to effect beneficial changes in the composition of their milk. Immune milk, produced by cows inoculated with human intestinal bacteria, has interesting bio-active effects in humans, such as a reduction of blood cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic patients. In bioguided processing, the inherent biological characteristics of a raw material are important not only in the determination of the end-point applications of the isolates, but also in the processing pathways utilised in their isolation. Methods of processing based on biological specificity can be roughly broken into three categories: affinity-based, enzymatic, and microbiological. Surface recognition and non-covalent interactions are the basis for macromolecular associations within and between cells, and manipulation of these parameters affords great specificity in processing applications. Affinity-based binding and subsequent separation is a gentle separation procedure, as the chemical nature of the substrates is maintained. Removal of one specific component of raw milk may be achieved by a scheme analogous to affinity chromatography. Flowing the raw milk past surfaces to which affinity proteins are attached will allow for the specific removal of the species to which the tethered protein had affinity. The attached proteins may be immunoglobulins, lectins, or even enzymes engineered to retain substrate binding while being deficient in catalytic activity. In such a scheme, milk is diverted to surfaces containing these proteins until the binding

sites are all occupied. The flow is then rerouted, and the adsorbed components are released by washing with a solution of different ionic strength. In a process analogous to a pull-down assay, an affinity protein is attached to a small support molecule and dosed into a processing stream, where it binds specifically to its substrate. The complex is then recovered, and the target analyte collected. Affinity-based separations are most efficiently used to remove one or at most two molecules from a complex mixture. This process can be designed to create a final product minus one or two specific types of molecules, or, alternatively, the goal may be to isolate one or two specific molecules. The use of enzymes in food processing facilitates the alteration or modification of the nature of raw materials, and it is effected with great specificity. In recent years, the hydrolytic enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose, has been used to produce dairy products for those who have trouble digesting milk sugar. Numerous enzyme activities may be utilised in removing, adding, or separating components of the MFGM. Unlike affinity-based separations, enzymes catalyze the formation and lysis of covalent bonds and therefore alter the chemical nature of the substrates. This can be of use in processes designed to isolate or remove components from the MFGM. As non-covalent forces hold the membrane together, hydrolysis of any part of the amphipathic phospholipids leads to a change in their solubility. This scheme might be used to remove a specific component of the MFGM or to improve the emulsifying properties of ingredients made from the MFGM. Enzymes are finding increasing usage in processing and manipulating lipid materials. Immobilised lipases are available for interesterification, which allows the production of triglycerides with specific functional properties. The lion’s share of interest in functional foods involves the establishment and maintenance of intestinal health through the use of probiotics. The alliance of intestinal micro-flora and host epithelial cells is generally recognised as necessary for normal health, yet the mechanisms by which this alliance occur remain unknown. Nevertheless, research is underway to elucidate the biochemical basis of this symbiosis and should be facilitated by the application of molecular and bioinformatic tools. Mollet observed the close phylogeny between organisms traditionally used in food fermentations and human microflora, and suggested that the relationship was established as a by-product of the awareness of the health-giving properties of food microorganisms and the history of their consumption. Sequencing of the genomes of food-grade bacteria is underway, and parallel developments in cloning techniques will lead to the availability of novel strains for future fermentations. Treatment of milk fractions with commensal bacteria, or relatives thereof, will allow the development of new fermented products with novel applications. Furthermore, knowledge of the variation of metabolism of the microorganisms will allow the design of products in which the bacteria are optimally suited for survival in and subsequent colonisation of the host. Bacteria might also be used in tandem, one to effect gross changes in the chemical composition of the raw material and the second to act as a probiotic. It is often stated that the genomic era will bring about dramatic changes in the understanding of human disease at the molecular level. This information will lead to the development of a new generation of pharmaceuticals designed to selectively target the genes responsible for disease, leading to an attenuation of symptoms. As these same developments will lead to the design of diets tailored for the individual, changes in food processing ideology are needed to provide the next generation of foods. Whereas in the current paradigm food production and processing are evaluated in terms of yield and efficiency, future processing schemes will be designed around effective delivery of the nutrients in food. The processing of milk serves as an example for this coming paradigm change in food production. Milk is a complete food that evolved to provide nutrition to mammals. It provides biological functions deficient in the neonate, and milk’s plasticity throughout lactation reflects the differing nutritional needs of the nursling. The application of genomic and informatic tools to the study of milk composition and function is leading to significant information on the molecular basis of nutrienttarget cell interactions. Approaches in the design and production of functional fractions of milk can now begin with the inherent biology of the raw material. Bioguided processing takes advantage of the great specificity of biochemical reactions, and utilises them to produce desired changes in the raw materials. Continued development in the production of biomaterials for processing, be it affinity-based, enzymatic, or probiotic, will drive increases in the creativity of food processing schemes and decreases in their costs. Nanotechnology in Food Industry Nanotechnology is becoming one of the most promising scientific fields of research in decades. It is enabling scientists to better understand the relationships between macroscopic properties and molecular

structure, degree of order, and intermolecular forces in synthetic materials and biological materials of plant and animal origin. Understanding the nanoscale colloidal properties of materials, particularly macromolecules, makes it possible to envision the manipulation of molecular conformation to deliver active compounds precisely to the sites needed in the human body, thus leading to more-efficient delivery systems. Minuscule nanomachines able to circulate through the bloodstream, kill microbes, undo tissue damage, and reverse cancer could be delivered to the human body through food macromolecules. Such discoveries have the potential to give the health-promotion role of foods a new dimension.

Nanotechnology-based strategies have resulted in progress in the development of sensors for rapid detection of pathogens in foods or the environment. Some of the current nanotechnology research that is applicable to food science and technology and project what the future will bring to the newly emerging field of food nanotechnology. Nanotechnology has captured the imagination of researchers, manufacturers, and even the general population in recent years. It received a big boost in the United States after the National Nanotechnology Initiative in 2000 identified it as an emerging area of national interest. Recognising its importance and huge potential, many federal agencies declared nanotechnology research a top priority. The term “nano” refers to dimensions on the order of magnitude of 10 -9 ; thus, one nanometer is 10 9 m. Using approaches inspired by nature, scientists are now able to self-assemble atoms into structures with controlled properties. Two building strategies are currently used in nanotechnology: (1) the “top down” approach, in which nano-level structures are generated by breaking up bulk materials, using milling, nanolithography, or precision engineering, and (2) the newer “bottom up” approach, which allows nanostructures to be built from individual atoms or molecules that are capable of self-assembling. Nanotechnology has opened up new ways for studying individual molecules and the specific intraand inter-molecular interactions in which they participate. Current research objectives include understanding the mechanisms of catalysis and enzymatic reactions, muscular contraction, cellular transport, DNA replication and transcription, DNA unknotting and unwinding, and protein folding and

unfolding. Nanotechnology is opening windows to understand and replicate or improve the complexity and functionality of biological materials, enabling the type of control of such materials that nature has. The potential of nanotechnology in food science cannot be fully appreciated yet because of lack of sufficient knowledge. If nanotechnology continues to advance at its current pace, we could expect that soon we will be able to build self-replicating nano-robots powered by light energy that are able to move, sense their environment, and handle atoms. Such nano-robots could be circulated into the bloodstream and programmed to repair or change DNA, fix damaged cells, and eliminate infections, cancers, or aged cells, enabling humans to live longer, healthier lives. Conservation and creation of new sources of energy will become possible, waste will be minimised by use of “clean” production methods and revolutionary recycling techniques, minuscule supercomputers will be built, human-class artificial intelligence might become a reality sooner than we expect, and aerospace advances will make space travel trivial. Nanomachines could create unlimited amounts of food by synthesis at the atomic level, which would eradicate hunger. Most of the current applications of nanotechnology are in electronics, automation, super-materials, or life sciences such as pharmaceuticals and medicine. However, the experience gained by humankind over decades of scientific discoveries clearly points to the fact that such a groundbreaking science will not be contained within a limited number of applications, and will heavily impact human life in its totality. It is possible that it is only a matter of time until we see the products of nanotechnology “on our plate.” Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionise the global food system. Novel agricultural and food security systems, disease-treatment delivery methods, tools for molecular and celluiar biology, sensors for pathogen detection, environmental protection, and education of the public and future workforce are examples of the important impact that nanotechnology could have on the science and engineering of agriculture and food systems. The following are some examples: • Nanosensors for detection of pathogens and contaminants could make manufacturing, processing, and shipment of food products more secure. • Specific nano-devices could enable accurate tracking and recording of the environmental conditions and shipment history of a particular product. • “Smart” systems capable of providing integrated sensing, localisation, reporting, and remote control of food products could increase the efficacy and security of food processing and transportation. The four major areas in food industry that will probably be significantly enhanced by nanotechnology are 1. development of new functional materials; 2. micro- and nanoscale processing; 3. product development; and 4. design of methods and instrumentation for food safety and biosecurity. Some of the benefits of nanotechnology will be conveyed to the food sector through agriculture and agricultural research. The development of new tools in molecular and cellular biology will result in significant advances in reproductive science and technology; conversion of agricultural and food wastes into energy and useful byproducts through enzymatic nano-bioprocessing; and disease prevention and treatment in plants and animals. New materials with special characteristics at the nanoscale level, such as self-assembly and self-healing properties, or abilities for pathogen and contaminant detection, could be breakthroughs in the agriculture and food industry of the near future. Protection of the environment through the nanoconversion of agricultural materials into valuable products is another exciting area of advancement. The design and development of new nanocatalysts for the conversion of vegetable oils into bio-based fuels and biodegradable solvents is already under scientific examination, and could be greatly enhanced with the help of nanotechnological abilities. Management of local and environmental conditions is another critical area that could benefit from nanotechnology. Before reaching the dinner table, the lettuce, baked potato, broccoli, and oven-fresh bread will have survived a formidable number of environmental challenges. Agricultural crops must be protected against the invasion of weeds, insects, plant pathogens, and hostile weather. Close daily scrutiny, or “scouting,” of crops for potential problems is critical for food producers. Preventive monitoring and

treatment of crops or animals with nanoscale sensors and “smart” delivery systems can improve the quality of the food raw materials of both vegetable and animal origin. Tools of nanotechnology will allow food scientists to understand better how food components are structured and interact with each other. As a consequence, they will be able to precisely manipulate food molecules and design new, healthier, tastier, and safer foods. Nonpolluting, cheaper, and more efficient processes will be developed; lighter and more precise food manufacturing equipment will be built; and lighter, more functional, and stronger packaging materials will be used to package wholesome, nutraceutical-loaded foods. Safety of the food supply could be improved significantly by creating “bacteriarepellent” surfaces or packaging materials that change colour in the presence of harmful microorganisms or toxins. Nanostructured Materials and Food Manufacturing Nanostructured materials exhibit unique properties that open windows of opportunity for the creation of new, high-performance materials, which will have a critical impact on food manufacturing, packaging, and storage. Nanostructuring adds value to traditional materials by enhancing their mechanical strength, superconductivity, and ability to incorporate and efficiently deliver active substances into biological systems, at low costs and with limited environmental impact. A promising class of new materials is represented by nanocomposites made of nanoscale structures with morphology and interfacial properties that give them unique characteristics. The fabrication of the first nanocomposites was inspired by biomineralisation, the process in which an organic substance (protein, peptide, or lipid) interacts with an inorganic substance (e.g., calcium carbonate) and forms materials with increased toughness. An example is a packaging material composed of potato starch and calcium carbonate. This foam has good thermal insulation properties, is lightweight and biodegradable, and has been developed to replace the polystyrene “clam-shell” used for fast food. Nanocomposites are regarded as the potentially ideal solution for plastic beer bottles, since previous attempts to use plastic for this application have resulted in spoilage and flavour problems. A Japanese company, Nano Material Inc., developed a microgravure process for coating plastic films such as PET with a nanocomposite barrier material, which is a better-performing, transparent alternative to silica and alumina-coated food packaging films. Nanostructures can be also built from natural materials. Natural smectite clays, particularly montmorillonite, a volcanic material that consists of nanometer-thick platelets, are a popular source for producing nanoclays. Some companies in the U.S., such as Nanocor Inc. and Southern Clay Products, are using montmorillonite as an additive in nanocomposite production. Addition of only 3-5% montmorillonite makes plastics lighter, stronger, and more heat-resistant and provides improved barrier properties against oxygen, carbon dioxide, moisture, and volatiles. These characteristics are extremely useful for food packaging applications, and their use could enhance considerably the shelf life of foods such as processed meats, cheese, confectionery, cereals, and boil-in-bag foods. They can also be used in the extrusion manufacturing of fruit juice and dairy foods packaging, or beer and carbonated drink bottles. A newer generation of nanomaterials is represented by carbon nanotubes. Discovered in 1991 by the Japanese electron microscopist Sumio lijirna at NEC Corp., Tokyo, Japan, nano-tubes are made by “winding” single sheets of graphite with honeycomb structures into very long and thin tubes that have stable, strong, and flexible structures. Nanotubes are the strongest fibers known-10-100 times stronger than steel per unit weight-and researchers are using them to make nanotube-reinforced composites With high fracture and thermal resistance to replace conventional ceramics, alumina, and even metals in building aircraft, gears, bearings, car parts, medical devices, sports equipment, and industrial food-processing equipment. Recent studies have suggested the use of carbon nanotubes for biological purposes, such as crystallisation of proteins and building of bioreactors and biosensors. For biological applications, the insolubility of carbon nanotubes in aqueous media needs to be overcome. Dagani has solubilised singlewall carbon nanotubes in aqueous iodine-starch solutions, and Bandyopadhyaya et al., have obtained a similar result using aqueous solutions of gum arabic. Other solutions for solubilisation of single-wall carbon nanotubes consist of functionalising the tubes with glucosamine or bovine serum albumin. Grafting functional groups onto carbon nanotubes can be extremely useful in health-related applications. For example, Unking a nanotube to a DNA sequence that can bind specifically to a protein in a cancer cell and grafting a cell toxin to another part of the same nanotube may provide a “guided missile” that can target the rumour cells and destroy them . Another example consists of nanotubes formed by selfassembly of phospholipid bilayers capable of entrapping active compounds; because of their

biocompatibility, such tubules are ideal for delivery in biological systems. Carbon nanotubes, particularly multiwall nanotubes with well-defined nanostructures, can be used to build sensors. Manufacturing of nanotube membranes has significant potential for use in food systems. Highly selective nanotube membranes can be used both for analytical purposes as part of sensors for molecular recognition of enzymes, antibodies, various proteins, and DNA and for membrane separation of bio-molecules, such as proteins. The selectivity and yield of the membranes currently used in the food industry are not fully satisfactory, mainly because of the limited control of their structure and chemical affinity. By functionalising nanotubes in a desired manner, nano-tube membranes can be tailored to efficiently separate molecules on the basis of both their molecular size and shape and their chemical affinity. For example, Lee and Martin have developed membranes that contain monodisperse gold nanotubes with inside diameters of <1 nm, which can be used either for separation of molecules or for the transport of ions between solutions placed on either side of the membrane. They were able to make the interior of the nanotubes hydrophobic, so the nanotube membrane preferentially extracts and transports neutral hydrophobic molecules. While such technologies are still too expensive for industrial food applications, they could be applied in the future for the separation of food bio-molecules with functional value, which would be used for food fortification or the manufacturing of dietary supplements or drugs. Another area of carbon nanotube-based applications is the development of electrically conductive membranes. The high length-to-diameter ratio of carbon nanotubes can be used to turn ordinary synthetic polymers, which are typically electrical insulators, into conducting polymers. In addition to their uses in the electronics and automobile industries, these polymers can also be utilised to develop novel membranes that will enhance separation and energy efficiency in the separation of flavour and nutraceutical molecules. The basic idea of this development is to incorporate minuscule carbon nanotubes uniformly into polymer substrates that can be then developed into membranes. These electrically conductive membranes can be resistance-heated to provide the thermal energy needed for some membrane separation processes that involve phase change. This could minimise the energy losses that occur when the feedstock is heated, enhance the heat transfer, and limit the detrimental effects of prolonged heating on the nutritional and sensory properties of the food/ bioactive feedstock. Membrane pervaporation of food flavors, dehydration of alcohols by pervaporation or membrane distillation, and temperature-swing absorption of volatile liquids are just some examples of possible applications of such conducting membranes in the food and associated industries. High-performance nanoporous membranes can also be manufactured using high-surface-area nanoscale materials, such as clusters and nanocrystalline materials. Nanotechniques can be used to functionalise supported microfiltration or ultrafiltration polymeric membranes by filling their pores with polymeric or oligomeric liquids that have affinity for the compound of interest. A nanoparticle-enhanced membrane that combines organic polymers with inorganic silica nanoparticles and enables large molecules to pass through more readily than small molecules was developed by Kingsley. The addition of the silica resulted in >200% improvement in the flux and increased the permeability of the membrane, which challenges the common knowledge about membrane separation. The increased permeability was due to the nanoparticles, which, according to the author, pushed the polymer chains apart, creating larger openings in the membrane’s structure. The reported use of these membranes is to purify fuel (ethanol and methanol) inexpensively, but food-related applications could also become possible. High-surface-area materials also have a great potential for the manufacturing of thin films for electronic and optical devices, nanoporous thermal barrier coatings, or adsorbents selective for amino acids and other biological molecules . The latter is achieved using the molecular imprinting technique, which allows making artificial “locks” for “molecular keys”. Such ideas can be useful in food systems for building biosensors or creating efficient delivery systems. Nanoparticles and Delivery Systems For delivery systems to be effective, the encapsulated active compounds must be delivered to the appropriate sites, their concentration maintained at suitable levels for long periods of time, and their premature degradation prevented. Nanoparticles and nanospheres allow better encapsulation and release efficiency than traditional encapsulation systems, and are particularly attractive, since they are small enough to even be injected directly into the circulatory system. Roy et al., showed that complex coacervates of DNA and chitosan could be used as delivery vehicles in gene therapy and vaccine design. Their work resulted in immunisation of mice against peanut allergen gene, which indicates that oral immunisation

using DNA-functionalised nanoparticles could become an effective treatment of food allergies, a very serious problem affecting a large number of consumers all over the world.

The efficiency of delivery systems can be enhanced using dendrimer-coated particles. Dendrimers, macromolecules with a regular, highly branched 3-dimensional structure, have a large number of functionalities due to the high local density of active groups. This characteristic makes them usable in a wide range of applications, such as sensors, catalysts, or agents for controlled release and site-specific delivery. A very stable and precise delivery system is represented by “cochleates,” stable phospholipiddivalent cation precipitates composed of naturally occurring materials, developed and patented by BioDelivery Sciences International Inc., Newark, N.J. They have a multilayered structure consisting of a large, continuous, solid lipid bilayer sheet rolled up into a spiral; they deliver their contents to target cells through the fusion of the outer layer of the cochleate to the cell membrane. Cochleates resist environmental attack, and their solid layered structure provides protection from degradation for the “encochleated” molecules, even when exposed to harsh environmental conditions or enzymes, including protection from digestion in the stomach. They can be used for the encapsulation and delivery of many bioactive materials, including compounds with poor water solubility, protein and peptide drugs, and large hydrophilic molecules. It is possible to envision that such systems could be used in the nottoo-distant future for the encapsulation and targeted delivery/release of functional food biomolecules.Manipulation of matter at the nanolevel also opens up possibilities for improving the functionality of food molecules, to the benefit of product quality. Dziechciarek et al. have developed starch-based nanoparticles that behave like colloids in aqueous solution, and can be used in food applications such as mixing, emulsification, and imparting specific rheology to foods, or in nonfood applications such as manufacturing of paints, inks, and coatings. Nanoparticles and Food Safety The biosecurity of the food and water supply is a serious concern, and novel solutions are required for the development of fast, reliable, and highly sensitive biosensors for the detection of biological agents in food or water. Fellman has developed a method to produce nanoparticles with a triangular prismatic shape that can be used in detecting biological threats such as anthrax, smallpox, and tuberculosis, and a wide range of genetic and pathogenic diseases. Chip-based sensing for rapid detection of biological pathogens is another new area with tremendous potential for application in food handling and processing, and in early warning regarding exposure to air- and water-borne bacteria, viruses, and other antigens. A novel method of making simple, linker-free, high-capacity DNA microarrays based on highly porous organosilicate supports is being developed in Huang’s laboratory at Rutgers University.

DNA microarrays, which consist of short strands of DNA sequences patterned on solid supports, are the primary choice for such systems. The “target” DNA extracted from pathogens can be analysed by sequence-specific binding (hybridisation) to the microarrays to obtain detailed DNA sequence information. Fluorescence microscopy is usually used to detect the hybridisation of fluorescent-labelled target DNA to the microarrays. Many of the microbial safety problems encountered in the food industry are related to the contamination of food processing equipment and surfaces with microorganisms and microbial spores. One of the most important properties related to the contamination of surfaces is adhesion, which has been identified as one of the principal virulence factors in microorganisms like Bacillus. The quantification of spore adhesiveness, which is a particularly significant problem in the food industry, has been facilitated by the development of tools capable of analysing single-molecule mechanics. Bowen et al., used Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to study the adhesive properties of Aspergillus niger and to obtain structural information about bacterial polysaccharides that form biofouling layers on food processing equipment. Camesano and Logan developed an AFM method to probe the effects of pH, ionic strength, and bacterial surface polymers on the electrosteric repulsion between negatively charged bacteria and AFM silicon nitride tips, and found that bacterial surface polymers were the dominating factor.

Understanding the interaction between contaminated surfaces and microorganisms allowed the design of materials that are resistant to bacterial adhesion. Researchers are already making efforts to develop a new generation of “self-cleaning” materials loaded with antimicrobial compounds that can be released under certain environmental conditions and kill the contaminant microflora. Such solutions would be extremely useful to the food industry, although they seem rather long-term. Therefore, disinfection of surfaces remains one of the most important “weapons” in fighting harmful microorganisms. However, the corrosive nature of the commonly used disinfectants and biocides makes their use unsuitable for the decontamination of sensitive equipment. Baker and coworkers have used high-shear mixing of a lipid-oil discontinuous phase with an aqueous continuous phase to develop nanoemulsions, which represent an effective solution for disinfecting sensitive equipment safely. Nanoemulsions consist of oil droplets of 400800 µm in diameter that are able to fuse with and subsequently disrupt the membrane of a variety of different pathogens, such as bacteria, spores, enveloped viruses, and fungal spores. The development of techniques able to characterise materials and single-polymer molecules at the nano-level resulted in significant progress in the science and technology during the past decade. The development of force microscopy allowed the characterisation of biopolymers’ structures and the quantification of the intra-and intermolecular forces that stabilise such structures. AFM and Friction Force Microscopy (FFM) can be used for making local glass-transition, nanorheological, and nano-tribological measurements of biopolymers. Rheological properties of single chains of proteins, polysaccharides, or DNA have been investigated using AFM. As a result, scientists have made important advances in understanding how motor proteins work, how drugs interact with the target molecules in the human body, and which are the mechanisms involved in DNA transcription and protein folding. AFM has been used for the structural characterisation of starch and proteins, and has helped to better understand the mechanism of gel formation for biopolymers like hylan, xanthan gum, kappa-carageenan, gellan, and collagen, or the interfacial distribution and interaction of surfactants in emulsions and microemulsions. Such studies have significant value for controlling the functionality, quality, and shelf stability of foods and food ingredients. One of the most popular applications of AFM is the nonde-structive topographical analysis of delicate biomaterials. Koki-ni’s group at Rutgers University is using AFM for characterising the nanoscale properties of edible biopolymer films and coatings. AFM analysis of zein films yielded nanometer-scale topographic details of surface roughness, which provided an insight into the barrier potential of these films. Nano-scale force measurements allowed quantifying the influence of environmental factors on the hardness, elasticity, and adhesiveness of the film surface, which is extremely useful for the design of highperformance edible food packaging. AFM can also be instrumental in probing the local mechanical properties and phase behaviour in multi-phase foods, or for evaluating the compatibility of food ingredients. These are just a few examples of how nanotechnology and its tools can benefit the food industry and food research. It is very difficult to predict the long-term impact of any technology, nanotechnology in particular. As in the case of almost every nonconventional technology, e.g., genetic engineering, some fear that nanotechnology can give people too much control. This control can be wisely used, and that the huge contributions that nanotechnology can make are very strong arguments in favour of using this revolutionary science to its fullest potential. Encapsulation Technologies Spray drying accounts for the majority of commercial encapsulated materials in food products. The process is relatively well known, and the encapsulated product can be incorporated into dry products and powders. The encapsulated actives are released upon contact of the product with water, which dissolves the spray-dried capsules.

An alternative process is melt extrusion. In this process, a melting system such as an extruder is employed to form the carrier melt in a continuous process. The flavour or other ingredients to be encapsulated is either mixed with or injected into the molten carbohydrate carrier. The payload of active ingredients, flavours, and sensory markers such as cooling agents, heating agents, and even sweeteners in these systems is relatively low, typically below 20%. These systems can be incorporated into dry products or powders, and the encapsulated active ingredients will be released upon contact of the product with water. Another technique, coacervation, was commercialised in the 1950s and has found wide use primarily in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, fragrance, and specialty products industries. Complex coacervation is the process by which two or more oppositely charged macromolecular colloids are used to form particulates.

However, the relatively high process costs, sensitive multistep batch process, regulations limiting the number of polymeric agents which can be used in food preparations, and the difficulty in dealing with encapsulates having both aqueous and lipid solubility properties — as well as the sensitivity of these systems to high shear —have drastically limited the application of coacervation for flavour encapsulation in the food industry. Another encapsulation technique is coating with fat. In this technique, ingredients are coated with fat via a fluidized-bed technique. This technique suffers from serious shortcomings, such as exposure of the active agent to a vigorous hot air stream that may result in active ingredients either volatilising or oxidising under such conditions. This air contacting may occur over a long time period, since the rate of fat addition must often be slow, being determined by the heat load the air stream can carry away. This also limits the overall productivity of fluidised-bed techniques, which in turn influences processing costs and ultimately commercial utility. In addition, the protection afforded by fat coatings may be easily lost when the fatcoated particle is exposed to temperatures above the melting point of the fat. Spray-chilling is another form of encapsulation practiced commercially. This process begins with mixing a liquid flavour into a molten fat to create a solution/ dispersion. The resulting mixture is then atomised into a chamber where it is contacted with an air stream cool enough to cause the atomised droplets to solidify, forming a crude encapsulated product. The major drawbacks of spray-chilling include interactions between the fat and the active ingredient, volatilisation of lipid-soluble materials over time, and loss of volatile materials during processing. None of the encapsulation methods and compositions described above have the ability to release multiple active ingredients in a consecutive manner or to provide a longlasting organoleptic perception or mouthfeel. A multicomponent delivery system was developed to overcomes the drawbacks of the above encapsulation systems. This system, MultiSal, delivers multiple active ingredients that don’t normally mix well, such as water-soluble and fat-soluble ingredients, and releases them consecutively. It enhances the stability and bioavailability of a wide range of nutrients and other ingredients, controls their release characteristics, and prolongs their residence time in the oral cavity and thus prolongs the sensation of flavours in the mouth. The system consists of solid hydrophobic nanospheres composed of a blend of foodapproved hydrophobic materials encapsulated in moisture-sensitive or pH-sensitive bioadhesive microspheres. A proprietary suspension technology generates nanospheres with a diameter of about 0.1-0.5 The nanospheres are then encapsulated in microspheres of about 20-50 in diameter. The nanospheres are not individually coated by the moisture-sensitive microsphere matrix, but are homogeneously dispersed in it. When the microsphere encounters water, such as saliva, it dissolves, releasing the nanospheres and other ingredients. Various flavours and ingredients can be incorporated into the hydrophobic nanosphere matrix, the water-sensitive microsphere matrix, or both matrices. The active ingredients, flavours, and other sensory markers encapsulated in the nanospheres can be the same as or different from those encapsulated in the microspheres. The encapsulation system is formed by (1) incorporating the flavour and other active ingredients into the solid hydrophobic nanospheres by melting the hydrophobic matrix materials together with the active ingredients and sensory markers; (2) forming an aqueous mixture of one or more flavours and other active ingredients, the nanospheres, and a water-sensitive material, such as starch derivatives, natural gums, proteins, hydrocolloids, or mixture of them; and (3) spray drying the mixture to form a dry powder. The nanosphere surface can include a moisture-sensitive bioadhesive material, such as starch derivatives, natural polymers, natural gums, etc., making them capable of being bound to a biological membrane such as the oral cavity mucosa and retained on that membrane for an extended period of time. The nanospheres can be localised and the target ingredient encapsulated within their structure to a particular region, or a specific site, thereby improving and enhancing the bioavailability of ingredients which have poor bioavailability by themselves. Ingredients that have high water solubility, such as vitamin C, usually have low bioavailability. Enhancing the hydrophobicity of these ingredients enhances their bioavailability. In-vitro tests have shown the ability of the nanospheres to adhere to human epithelial cells, such as those in the oral cavity. Differential Thermal Analysis (DSC) combined with Thermometric Analysis (TGA) are used to analyse the thermal properties and stability of the system.

The encapsulation system has numerous benefits: • Ease of Handling. The system can be utilised to transform volatile liquids such as flavours into a powder, which are in many cases easier to handle. • Enhanced Stability. The system can be utilised to isolate active ingredients as well as flavours that may interact with the other food ingredients. This provides long-term product shelf life. • Protection Against Oxidation. The microspheres have very low surface oil at very high payloads compared to conventional spray-dried particles utilising materials such as gum arabic or starch. • Retention of Volatile Ingredients. The moisture-sensitive matrix provides excellent retention of highly volatile ingredients, such as flavours, over an extended period of time to reduce the flavour loss during the product shelf life. • Taste Masking. Unwanted taste can be masked by preventing interaction between the active molecule and the oral mucosal surface. The nanospheres are hydrophobic and can prevent bitter ingredients encapsulated within their structure from going into solution and interacting directly with taste receptors. • Moisture-Triggered Controlled Release. As discussed above, the microspheres dissolve in the presence of water or saliva to release the active ingredients or flavours, thereby providing a highimpact flavour “burst.” • pH-Triggered Controlled Release. Ingredients can be encapsulated in the microspheres to enhance their stability during the product shelf life and to release them when needed or upon food consumption. For example, citral can be stabilised in a fruit juice at acidic pH and released in the mouth upon drinking. This pH triggered release was initially designed to deliver drugs to different regions of the gastrointestinal tract. • Heat-Triggered Release. The hydrophobic nanospheres are temperature sensitive and can be utilised to release active ingredients and flavours at a certain temperature, e.g., upon heating in an oven or microwave oven or addition of hot water for hot drinks and soups. • Consecutive Delivery of Multiple Active Ingredients. Two or more ingredients that would react with each other if put together can be separated and provided consecutively by placing one in the nanosphere and the other in the microsphere. An example is encapsulation of folic acid and iron that work synergistically. Other examples would be the delivery of one flavour after another, or the delivery of a flavour or sensation to indicate that the active ingredient has been delivered. • Change in Flavour Character. Encapsulation of a flavour in the nanospheres that is different from the flavour encapsulated in the microsphere can provide a perceivable change in the organoleptic perception in response to moisture during the use of the product. • Long-Lasting Organoleptic Perception. As a result of the bioadhesive properties of the nanospheres and their residence in the oral cavity, flavour perception and mouthfeel can be extended over a longer period of time. • Enlianced Bioavailability and Efficacy. As a result of their hydrophobic/lipophilic nature, the nanospheres can enhance the bioavailability of various active ingredients, such as vitamins, nutrients, and other biologically active agents encapsulated within their structure. Major potential product applications for the nanosphere/ microsphere system are baked goods, refrigerated/frozen dough and batters, tortillas and flat breads, processed meats, acidified dried meat products, microwavable entrees, seasoning blends, confectionery, specialty products, chewing gum, dessert mixes, nutritional foods, wellness products, health bars, dry beverage mixes, and many others.

Maintaining the Taste of food Chefs have control over the menus and in some segments over the entire foodservice operation. They can work with suppliers and manufacturers to give diners many reduced-carbohydrate options as well as market and position current items in new ways to appeal to low-carb dieters. In one scenario, a chef of a single unit can create a low-carb menu in addition to the regular fare. On the other hand, a chef of a multiunit operation can partner with manufacturers to provide reduced-carb components that they can then incorporate into menu items as low-carb offerings. The second way is through the replacement of undesirable ingredients or food items. Products that seem to be easy to transform into low-carb often face the backlash that low-fat experienced with regard to taste, texture, etc. What might appear to be the runaway favorite from a product introduction standpoint just might fall short of the palatability mark. What will we compromise as consumers in our “have cake and eat it, too” culture? If food technologists find ways to reduce or eliminate components to meet the dietary needs, the chef will play a critical part in getting the product back to the gold standard. The third approach is using new and unique technologies with new or traditional processes to create the ingredients or even the finished products that match the existing gold standards. Working in partnership with food scientists, chefs have more tools than ever to make it happen. For example, culinary artistry combined with baking technology and lowcarb ingredients resulted in one major casual-dining chain’s recent launch of a line of lower-carb breads that deliver full flavor and excellent texture. They created a formulation that is high in protein and fiber, then incorporated traditional artisan techniques that included an all-natural starter and an extended fermentation process. By mixing culinary skill, innovative technologies, and breakthrough thinking, they found a lower-carb solution that meets consumer expectations for artisan bread. The culinary and technology worlds want to deliver the best, most appealing product that captures all the senses. From a cook’s perspective, it’s all about staying true to the food — taking products and staying true to their flavor, color, taste, and naturally occurring texture through various preparation and cooking methods. From a technologist’s perspective, it’s about formulating with technologies like functional ingredients, flavors, sugar replacers, and flour replacers. Once again, it’s about the synergy of food arts and science working together to create a product for those who have made the choice of lowering or eliminating the carbs.

Maintaining Food Flavour Flavour can refer to a biological perception, such that it is the sensation produced by a material taken in the mouth, or flavour can refer to an attribute of the material being perceived. The attribute is the aggregate of the characteristics of the material that produces the sensation of flavour. Flavour is perceived principally by the aroma receptors in the nose and taste receptors in the mouth. However, flavour descriptors, such as hot, pungent and biting, are also given to sensations received by the general pain, tactile, and temperature receptors in the mouth, nose and eyes. Whether flavour refers to the chemicals responsible for the stimulation or the biological receptor stimulation itself, is immaterial to the consumer of foods. Consumers consider flavour one of the three main sensory properties decisive in their selection, acceptance, and ingestion of a particular food. The other two sensory properties are appearance and texture. We are all familiar with the basic five senses: sight, taste, odour, hearing and touch. The sense of touch, giving mouthfeel, can be broken down into three sensations: pressure, trigeminal and kinaesthesis. Pressure represents the feeling when force is applied over the surface of the food, trigeminal refers to a pain sensation and kinaesthesis denotes feedback from masticatory muscles during chewing. Flavours can be classified by the general sensations that one feels when eating different foods. Flavour comes from three different sensations: taste, trigeminal and aroma (odour). It is generally agreed that taste sensations are divided into four major categories: saltiness, sweetness, sourness and bitterness. However, some Japanese scientists also include a fifth category called umami (savoury) that can be represented by the flavour of glutamate. Trigeminal sensations give us the descriptors of astringency, pungency and cooling. Both taste and trigeminal sensations occur upon contact with food in the mouth, as most substances which produce these flavours are non-volatile, polar, and water-soluble. For aroma sensations to occur, an aromatic compound must be suciently volatile to allow detection at a distance. The physical interaction between the volatile compound and the receptor site occurs in the nasal passages. Those molecules that reach the olfactory receptors, either via the nasal passage or oral passageway, trigger the odorous sensations. However, food flavourants are usually classified by the food sources in which they are normally detected because more than one flavour sensation is usually triggered by a food flavourant. Given a specific flavourant, the food industry wants to know what type of image the average consumer will envision when he or she encounters it. For example, celery flavourant (from an extract of celery seed) used in a soup is bitter with a floral aroma, but to an average consumer this flavourant just elicits the thought of celery soup. The problem with using food sources to classify flavours is that flavours may vary with the history of the food source. For example, fresh cabbage has a quite different aroma than cooked cabbage and sauerkraut is a vastly different olfactory and gustatory experience! Thus classifying flavours by food source is somewhat arbitrary, with the processing method frequently denoted in the descriptive name of the flavour. The tastes of fruit are a blend of the sweetness due to sugars and the sourness of organic acids. However, it is the aromas of the different volatile components of fruits that allow us to distinguish among them. When one’s sense of smell is eliminated, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between onions and apples. A typical fruit may have well over a hundred different volatile components, but in total, these compose only a few parts per million of the entire fruit.Fruit aromas vary widely. Citrus, such as grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime, are rich in terpenoids whereas most non-citrus fruits, such as apple, raspberry, cranberry and banana, are characterised by esters and aldehydes. Most cultivated vegetables have a milder flavour than the corresponding wild species. Over the years of plant cultivation, the milder varieties, that were high yielding and disease resistant, were chosen for propagation unless the plant was also used to ‘spice’ up other foods. Many vegetable flavours are only released from the raw vegetable when they are chopped or cooked, because the aroma compounds are tied up as glycosides (celery, lettuce) or glucosinolates (cabbage, radish), which makes them non-volatile. When the glycoside or glucosinolate linkage is broken via either enzymatic cleavage or heat, then the aroma compounds are released. Some vegetables, such as onion and garlic, can also be considered spices. The onion is classified as lachrymatory as the initial flavour compound released upon enzymatic cleavage will bring tears to the eyes. Luckily it is shortlived and reacts to form other more appreciated flavour compounds. This lachrymatory

compound is not formed in garlic. Aromatic spices are the dried fruits and aromatic herbs are the dried leaves of plants. Volatile compounds give the characteristic aromas to the spices: eugenol (cloves), cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon) and menthol (mint). Some of these volatile substances, such as eugenol and cinnamaldehyde, also produce a slight pungent sensation via the trigeminal nerves. The hot spices include chilli or red pepper, black pepper and ginger. All have aromatic characters, but the pungent sensation in the mouth is overwhelming. Garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon are also sometimes considered hot spices; however, here the trigeminal sensation occurs mainly in the nose. In food processing, spices are often used in the form of essential oils or oleoresins. Essential oils are prepared by steam distillation of the dried ground spices and contain the volatile flavour compounds. Oleoresins are the solvent extracts of the spices and contain both the volatile essential oil as well as non-volatile resinous material and are more characteristic of the original ground spice. Beverage flavours can be divided into three types: unfermented, fermented and compounded. Unfermented beverages include milk and fruit and vegetable juices. Coee might fall under this classification as it is not fermented, but because the beans are roasted to develop the flavour, it also can be considered an empyreumatic flavour. Tea is usually classified as a fermented flavour. However, this is a misnomer. Fermentation refers to microbial growth, but the formation of flavour during ‘fermentation’ in tea manufacturing is related predominantly to the oxidation of the phenolic compounds by enzymes found in the fresh tea leaves. Alcoholic beverages use microbes to process the beverage and the chemical transformations that occur during fermentation generate flavours. However, the primary distinguishing flavours between beer and wine develop via non-fermentative processes. The bitter flavour of beer comes from hops that are transformed during the boiling of the wort before fermentation begins. Many wine flavours develop from interactions among fermentation products, flavonoid and the wooden containers during the long ageing process after fermentation has stopped. Compounded beverage flavours can be found in the soft drinks and cordials of today that have been completely blended by flavourists. Here, the flavourist has been creative in the combination of natural and/or artificial flavours to make beverages that excite the palate. Meats are cooked, dried, or even smoked to develop their flavours. The application of heat produces complex reactions between amino acids (often suffer containing) and sugars (containing a carbonyl), that are given a singular name of Maillard reaction and are discussed in detail later. How long the meat is cooked, whether a dry method (broiling) or wet method (stewing) is used, and the temperatures obtained during cooking can alter the compounds formed and change the flavours dramatically. Besides the cooking methods giving different flavour reactions, each animal contains a unique ratio of amino acids, fatty acids and sugars and thus generates its own flavours. In beef, lamb and pork, the lipids contain mostly saturated fatty acids that do not break down as quickly as do unsaturated fatty acids. However, in fish and fowl, there are many unsaturated lipids that generate flavours and small reactive molecules which interact with the amino acid/sugar reaction products to produce even more complex flavours. Also, because of these unsaturated lipids, rancid flavours develop more quickly in fish and fowl than in beef. Unsaturation in fats leads to oxidative cleavage and the formation of both desirable and undesirable flavours. The development of rancidity in oils is greater when oxygen and metals are present. The more refined an oil is, the quicker it develops rancidity because natural anti-oxidants, such as vitamin E, are removed during processing. When frying, the combination of heat, fat and food leads to the development of many different flavours. During heating in the presence of water, many flavours change and new flavours can be developed from nonvolatile precursors ; thus these altered flavours are in a different category after they are cooked. Examples of cooked flavours can be found in soups and broths, vegetables and fruits.

Role of Flavorists Ongoing improvements in chefs’ cooking techniques are providing cleaner, brighter, and fresher flavors. This trend and demand for healthier food and more authentic flavor profiles have raised the bar for culinary flavor development. The challenge for flavorists is to recreate these fresh, authentic flavors using techniques and ingredients that can be mass-produced. The chef will apply “home-style” cooking techniques to produce a “gold standard” product. These techniques, such as boiling, braising, frying, roasting, searing, and grilling, produce different character-specific flavor profiles. Additional ingredients popular in ethnic cuisines will create even greater differences. What this means for flavor creation is that in addition to species-specific flavors, such as different vegetables, the character-specific flavor profile must be included.

Flavorists, who often think in terms of flavor ingredients, must clearly understand the chef ‘s kitchenbased language, so they can better recreate the flavor of gold standards. They use consumer focus groups to understand preference drivers, while remaining true to the inspiration behind the chef ‘s concept. After

defining the flavor of the “target,” they use a variety of ingredients to provide the missing link between the gold standard and the industrial formulation. The first challenge is choice of an industrial ingredient, where volume, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and year-round availability are key factors. Using sensory profiling and other tools, flavorists must recreate species-specific flavor profiles to account for the difference between peak-season and yearround quality of vegetable-based materials, for example. The next hurdle is to recreate the chef ’s “home-style” profile, without using artisanal processes. With culinary flavors, flavorists can put “cooking technique” back into the manufacturing recipe at the appropriate place, be it in a soup, a sauce, or even a protein. By separating species- and character-specific profiles, flavorists can provide a culinary flavor’s complete essence. To provide authentic, fresh flavors which satisfy the senses, a culinary flavor must deliver all aspects of a gold standard. These include specific top notes, process flavors, taste, and mouthfeel. Species- and character-specific top notes are the “aroma” compounds, the volatile blends that provide consumers with instant recognition and awaken the senses, like lifting the lid of a simmering pot in the kitchen. These flavors contain high-impact flavor ingredients, the true fingerprints of food profiles. Process, or reaction, flavors, such as those formed from nonvolatile flavor precursors during thermal processing, are key to creating character-specific home-style or gourmet-style profiles. Taste and mouthfeel, of course, are very important. Cooking also develops body, sometimes incorrectly referred to as mouthfeel. While many think body implies monosodium glutamate, ribotides, hydrolysed vegetable protein, or yeast extracts, these ingredients do not give the effect of organic acids as occurs in the cooking process. The flavorist uses these acids to provide the character and distinguish among the various meats. Flavorists must also control the length of time the flavor lingers on the palate. Yeast technologies and taste-enhancement molecules can control this factor to ensure that the food delivers a well-balanced, full, rich, and long-lasting taste. Understanding the interaction of volatile, low-volatile, and non-volatile flavor ingredients is crucial. Labeling and other regulatory requirements and specific applications may require specific ingredients, like spray-dried dairy products, vegetable powders, spices, or herbs, each of which also contributes to the flavor and mouthfeel-On the other hand, carriers, or fillers, provide the flavors at specific concentrations to meet production purposes or application needs without affecting flavor perception. Flavorists must also consider matrix interactions that occur when the flavor is applied in soups, sauces, dressings, or meats. For example, high processing temperatures may cause chemical reactions. Dynamic flavor systems based on precursor or intermediate-reaction flavors can control flavor development during heat treatment. Interactions with other ingredients, such as fats, starches, and acids, can also dramatically affect taste thresholds, flavor, and aroma. Changes in food products during storage affect flavor as well, so flavor stability must match the food’s shelf life. Flavordelivery systems can overcome the changes created by flavor-compound oxidation. Finally, flavors are released and perceived differently based on the temperature at which the food is consumed. Flavorists need to balance particularly volatile flavor ingredients, especially in hot food applications. Biopreservation of Food Throughout recorded history, spices and herbs have been used for flavoring foods and beverages and for medicinal purposes. Historical records show the use of botanicals for flavor and medication as early as 6000 B.C. in China. Roman history records that Alarich, a leader of the Goths, laid seige to Rome in A.D. 408 and demanded as ransom various precious metals and 3,000 Ib of pepper. The possession and use of spices and herbs has historically been associated with wealth and prosperity, and today’s economic climate is no different. Black pepper is still the most heavily used spice for flavoring foods throughout the world. The value of functional foods was $11.3 billion in 1995, $16.2 billion in 1999, and $27 billion in 2003 and is projected to grow to $49 billion in 2010. The term functional foods often includes botanicals that are used as either dietary supplements or food additives. The rapid growth of this market has resulted in major changes in regulatory oversight of botanical ingredients by the Food and Drug Administration.Dietary supplements are regulated under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). This new law amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and created a regulatory frame- work for the safety and labeling of dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, specific enzymes, concentrates, metabolites, and extracts. Some companies label foods that are normally considered to be foods (e.g., some drinks) as dietary supplements to avoid preparing a Generally Recognised as Safe (GRAS) affirmation notice.

Under DSHEA, a botanical is exempted from the food additive category, and GRAS submission of safety evidence is not required as long as that ingredient was on the market before October 1994.A botanical or herb used as a food additive must undergo premarket approval; i.e., the manufacturer must submit a GRAS affirmation notice based on data demonstrating safety tp FDA’s Office of Premarket Approval . A substance is exempt from the definition of a food additive, and thus exempt from premarket approval, if it is generally recognised as safe by qualified experts under the conditions of intended use. A problem sometimes arises with interpretation of the conditions of intended use, since spices and other botanicals are generally used as flavors at fairly low levels in foods. When botanicals are used as biopreservatives, higher levels are generally required than would normally be used for flavoring. The use of higher levels of botanicals above the amounts normally used for flavor (intended use) will then trigger the requirement for submission of a GRAS notice to FDA. A practical consequence of the toxicology axiom “The dose makes the poison” is that a substance that is safely consumed in the diet at low levels may be unsafe if consumed at a higher level in the diet. Therefore, a second requirement for GRAS affirmation of botanicals is that data must be provided from the literature or from other sources demonstrating that the botanical has been shown to be safe when consumed at the higher level anticipated in the diet. Any food containing a botanical which is not GRAS causes the food to be adulterated and the food cannot be legally imported to or marketed in the United States. FDA has taken a firm stance on botanical food additives and has issued a number of proposed rules, final rules, warning letters, fact sheets, and directives to assist manufacturers in producing safe and appropriately labeled food products. As interest in using botanicals as biopreservatives has increased in the U.S., sales of botanicals for use as nutritional supplements has decreased in both the U.S. and some European countries such as Germany. The three major losers in the U.S. markets in 2003 were kava kava, ginseng, and St. John’s wort, respectively. A variety of reasons can be found for the reduction in sales. However, major factors affecting the market loss are health concerns associated with consumption of these specific botanicals and conflicting data on their efficacy in clinical trials. The U.S. is not alone in taking a tougher stance on food supplements/additives. On July 3, 2003, the European Union Food Supplements Directive was passed into English law. On July 31, 2003, the Directive passed into the national legislature of the 15 EU member countries. This law will affect approximately 5,000 products presently in European markets. For labeling purposes, the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature St. Louis Code establishes the current internationally accepted rules that govern the scientific naming of plants. The standardised common name of each botanical for labeling can be found in bold letters in the publication Herbs of Commerce, 2nd ed.. These publications are specifically referenced in FDA’s proposed rule for food labeling of dietary supplements containing botanicals. Additional guidelines, definitions, and ex- planations concerning the use of spices, herbs, and other botanical ingredients can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations . Crude and partially purified botanical extracts are commonly manufactured to contain a defined amount of a particular compound, constituent, or group of constituents. The particular compound or constituent is called a “marker compound.” One important aspect of standardisation of botanical ingredients is to ensure that batch-to-batch variation of the marker compound is within acceptable limits. Although this is the way in which botanical products have been standardised in the past, this does not actually equate to a standardised product. A study on antimicrobial activity of furocoumarins from parsley reported that chemical composition of parsley varied significantly (P < 0.01) in four varieties of Petroselinum crispum grown in Minnesota . Psoralen content of parsley varied from 1.94 to 52.72 ug/g dried parsley, and 5-methoxypsoralen ranged from 19.89 to 459.20 ug/ g dried parsley. Since the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of psoralen, 5-methoxypsoralen, and 8-methoxypsoralen ranged from 3.5 to 101 ng/g for Listeria monocytogenes, variations in furocourmarin composition of parsley would have serious implications if this botanical were used as an antimicrobial. An extract, dried preparation, or essential oil from a plant may also contain hundreds of other chemicals which can affect quality and standardisation of the extract . An evaluation of commercial products by the American Botanical Council Ginseng Evaluation program showed that retail root powder products had >30% standard deviation in the marker compound when five lots of the same product were purchased and tested. The standard deviation of the marker compound for extracts of the botanical product (N = 5) ranged from 6% to 87.5% depending on the manufacturer . This lack of uniformity in composition of botanical ingredients is not particularly surprising, since marker compounds in botanical products are affected not only by the variety of plant but also by the geographic origin, part of

the plant which is used, age and growth conditions of the plant, method of extraction or drying, preparation, packaging, and storage. A comprehensive and informative guidance document on the use of botanicals in food products was developed by a working group of the Natural Toxin Task Force of the European Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI)-Europe and discussed with scientists at a conference held on May 13-15, 2002, in Marseilles, France. This guidance document stresses that it is essential that botanical ingredients which will be used in food products be well identified and characterised. There are three major aspects which must be addressed to ensure that botanical materials are consistent: 1. the starting material must be accurately identified, 2. the method of preparation must meet good manufacturing practices, and 3. the final product must be standardised. Identification of the plant should include the scientific name and common name, the part of the plant used, harvest date, specific geographic origin, and clear information on the producer and chain of custody for the plant, including contact information for use in an emergency. If a patented variety or other specialised plant is used, this should be noted. Since growth conditions strongly influence the amount and type of bioactive constitutents in the plant, the growth conditions for each lot should be carefully documented. This would include site of collection, time of harvest, approximate age of plant, cultivation practices, pesticide use, standardised agricultural practices followed by the producer, handling and drying practices, storage conditions and type of storage facilities, and decontamination practices. A standard protocol should be developed for testing each incoming batch of raw material to ensure that composition of the botanical meets company specifications. Quantitative analysis should focus not only on the marker compound but also on other constituents of the botanical which may affect overall activity and acceptability of the preparation and on compounds most likely to be associated with toxicity. Manufacturing botanical preservatives using good manufacturing practices with clearly defined manufacturing activities and specifications will permit the food industry to effectively utilise botanical preparations as biopreservatives to produce acceptable food products. Companies purchasing botanical preparations for use in their product as biopreservatives should set very clear specifications which permit minimal variation in the batch-to-batch levels of active ingredients. Specifications should include information on the specific level of major marker compounds, type of preparation, concentration equivalent, storage conditions, level of toxic or biologically active compounds, assurance that the product is pure and does not contain harmful levels of mycotoxins, microorganisms, residual solvent, pesticides, heavy metals, dioxin, or other environmental contaminants. Since many of the highly antimicrobial botanical preparations are essential oils, volatility and stability in the final product should be routinely monitored by the manufacturer to ensure the highest-quality product. Antimicrobial botanicals which have the potential to be used as biopreservatives can be divided into several useful categories, including phenolics, polyphenols, quinones, flavones, flavonoids, flavonols, tannins, coumarins, terpenoids, alkaloids, lectins, and polypeptides. Many herbs, such as thyme, contain multiple active compounds which represent different chemical families. The essential oil (quinta essentia) fraction of botanicals is often the most inhibitory chemical fraction to growth and survival of microorganisms. Essential oils are highly enriched with terpenoids. Examples of herbs or spices containing terpenoids which have been shown to have antimicrobial activity include allspice, basil, bay, burdock, cinnamon, paprika, chili pepper, clove, dill, eucalyptus, gotu kola, grapefruit seed extract, horseradish, lemon verbena, oregano, pao d’arco, papaya, peppermint, rosemary, savory, sweet flag, tansy, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, valerian, and willow. The other major chemical group found in plants which has been frequently reported to have antimicrobial activity is the sulfoxide/ isothiocyanate family, which includes onion, garlic, mustard, and members of the Brassica family. Approximately 30% of essential oils which have been examined are inhibitory to bacteria, and more than 60% of essential oil derivatives have been shown to be inhibitory to fungi. The mechanism of action for the antimicrobial activity of botanical biopreservatives is not fully understood. However, terpenoids and phenolics are thought to exert inhibitory action against microorganisms by membrane disruption. Simple phenols and flavonoids appear to inhibit growth by binding to biochemicals essential for metabolism . Both coumarins and alkaloids are thought to inhibit

growth of microorganisms at the genetic level . Although numerous studies have been done in vitro to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of botanicals, only a few studies have been done with food products. Inhibition of fungal fungal growth on bread was reported using allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), which was applied in active packaging. The sensory threshold was slightly higher than the MIC for AITC on rye bread but lower on hot dog buns. A recent study by Suhr and Nielsen with rye bread showed that thyme, clove, and cinnamon inhibited spoilage fungi, while orange, sage, and rosemary oils had very limited effects. Mustard and lemongrass essential oils were most effective for volatile application, while phenolics and terpenoids were more inhibitory when applied to the product. Cinnamon, clove, and cardamom oil were found to suppress growth of microorganisms in cookies; however, cardamom reduced overall sensory and quality attributes. Most of the botanical biopreservatives which might be used in foods have been consumed safely by humans for thousands of years. However, it is virtually impossible to find the typical toxicological information such as Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) or No Effect Level (NOEL) that would be calculated for a new food additive. It may not even be appropriate to expect such calculations for botanical antimicrobials, since the physiological activity of the plant materials can be quite high and the margin of safety between typical use and toxicity levels rather small. Other factors may also affect the use of botanical biopreservatives by food manufacturers, such as unusual sensitivities of some parts of the population to specific herbal compounds or strong aromatic ingredients. Interaction of some botanical preservatives with prescription and over-thecounter medications has been demonstrated in several scientific studies. The key to using botanical preservatives safely is to conduct a standard risk assessment which will identify the hazards that might be encountered with a product. Any hazards associated with use of the botanical will need to be carefully investigated and characterised using the literature, epidemiological studies, clinical data, demographic information, phar- macological studies, and experimental human or animal studies. It is essential to calculate the average daily intake to ensure that no negative nutritional or health consequences will occur due to the introduction of a specific botanical preservative. Botanical preservatives are only one type of a growing number of naturally occurring antimicrobial systems; others include microbial products such as bacteriocins, animal products, various enzymes, peptides, and natural sterilants. Although consumers are enamored with “naturalness,” this alone is not sufficient justification to use these new preservatives in foods. We are currently limited to a rather small number of antimicrobial agents which have been used for many years with little expansion, and there is a real need to expand the list of preservatives which can be used to ensure safety and quality of food products. These systems lend themselves to synergistic or additive uses with one another and may also be used with conventional antimicrobial compounds and organic acids. The future of naturally occurring antimicrobial systems seems sure, as new preservative systems are being rapidly developed and used in a variety of foods.

Food Ingredients Protein Ingradients Proteins in the food are broken down into amino acids by digestion. They are then absorbed and distributed by the bloodstream to the body cells, which rebuild these amino acids into body proteins. Each specific protein performs a specific function in the body. Generally speaking, these functions include the formation of new tissues from infancy to adulthood; maintenance of body tissues; regulation of body processes; milk production; and production of energy. Proteins also function as hormones, enzymes, and antibodies. Since humans cannot make proteins the way plants do, they need to eat animals or plants to get the necessary protein to provide the vital materials for the growth and repair of their bodies. Proteins which contain all the essential amino acids in the proportion in which they are needed are more valuable as foods than those which lack or do not have enough of a vital component. As such, foods of animal origin are generally considered more valuable than foods of plant origin. However, by eating a balanced diet, it is also possible for different foods to complement each other, providing together the necessary amino acids that the body needs. Because of their importance to human health, proteins have played a major role in food formulation. However, there are several reasons why proteins are taking more of the spotlight these days.

The functionality of proteins also plays an important part in the success of these ingredients, example, proteins can have an impact on gelation, viscosity, film formation, water control, taste, and many other areas that are important to the formulation. Furthermore, new advancements technology are helping to customise these ingredients, making them applicable for specific applications for which otherwise they might not have been suitable. For example, meat applications will require characteristics of proteins that are different from those of beverages or nutrition bars. Consequently, proteins are being fractionated, isolated, concentrated. Their availability is being enhanced by new extraction and purification methods. They are being modified by various traditional and not-sotraditional treatments. And new sources of proteins are being looked at which technologies can unlock. This is certainly a very exciting time for protein technology, which will help spur new ingredients for product development. New technical advancements make it possible to precisely determine specific biological and functional attributes of whey protein ingredients. Their characteristics such as foaming, gelation, and emulsification or the potential role they play in areas such as blood pressure control can help increase the value of a variety of foods. For example, a Mocha-Flavored Protein Beverage Mix may be formulated with a Bioactive Peptide System called BioZate 1. The clean-flavored whey protein isolate with bioactive peptides is suitable for nutritional applications such as this beverage, with each 30-g serving containing 20 g of the ingredient. Research has shown that it can significantly reduce blood pressure in hypertensive rats. A proprietary line of dairy ingredients, said to be manufactured in Australia under strict quality control conditions. The ingredients include milk and whey protein concentrates and isolates, casein, lactoferrin, colostrum, and milk calcium. Studies have shown the health benefits of the two newest additions, lactoferrin and colostrum. Lactoferrin, which has the ability to build immunity and fight disease, may be used in infant formulas, health foods, supplements, and other products. Colostrum is rich in components which improve the immune system and gastrointestinal health, and can act as an antibacterial and antiviral agent. Protein ingredients that retain flavor, juiciness, succulence, and texture in lowfat food products was recently unveiled by Flavex Protein Ingredients, a division of The Arnhem Group. These ingredients are intended for inclusion in valueadded meat, poultry, cheese, seafood, marinades, sauces, gravies, soups, and spice blends. A protein-based ingredient, marketed under the name Aquagel, can function as a replacer for fat in meat products, baked goods, and confectionery products. The ingredient, made by a patent-pending process, is free of cholesterol and allergens. “Current concerns about the health effects of trans-fatty acids and saturated fats in food systems should make Aquagel an important development for food processors and health-conscious consumers,” said a company representative. Another development, Flavex 95, allows food manufacturers to reduce the fat content in foods by substituting a fat-replacement product that is composed of protein and water. It is said to enhance flavor and texture while providing a fat mouthfeel. It can be injected in whole-muscle meat, poultry, or fish filets for better dispersion in brine solutions. The ingredient has been instantised to eliminate protein coagulation during the injection process. In addition to providing a high protein contribution to food systems, the protein-based ingredients are said to offer a number of functionality characteristics, including high waterholding capacity, strong emulsification properties, a reverse gelation property in cold or heated systems, and the ability to mimic fat viscosity and act as a flavor carrier in low-fat formulations. Chocolate Ingredients The flavour of the cocoa depends not only on the cocoa type, e.g. whether it is Criollo or Forastero, but also upon the climate and soil conditions etc. For some specialist chocolates, normally dark ones, beans are obtained from specific areas. These flavour cocoas, often Criollo, are produced in many smaller growing areas such as Ecuador, the Caribbean Islands and Papua New Guinea. In addition to the flavour of the beans, the fat contained within it also changes according to the area of production. In general the nearer the equator that the tree is grown the softer is the fat, i.e. the easier it is to melt. This means that Malaysian cocoa butter is relatively hard, whereas most Brazilian cocoa butter is much softer. The harder is better for chocolates, which will be sold in summer, whereas the softer is preferable for frozen products, such as choc-ices, where the fat is hardened by the cold conditions.

Tiny flowers, up to 100 000 in number, grow on the branches and trunk of the tree throughout the year. These grow into small green pods called cherelles , but take 5-6 months to develop into mature pods between 100 and 350 mm long. Their weight ranges from 200 g to more than 1 kg and they exist in a wide

variety of shapes and colours depending upon variety. Each pod contains some 30-45 beans. The pods are carefully cut off the tree with a machete (cutlass), where they are within reach. For the higher branches it is necessary to use a special knife attached to a long pole. Pods are normally harvested every 2-4 weeks over a period of several months, as they do not all ripen at the same time. The pods are opened with a machete or cracked with a wooden club. The beans are oval in shape and covered in a white pulp (mucilage). The beans are separated from the majority of this pulp by hand. The beans consist of an outer shell or testa surrounding two cotyle-dons (called nibs) and a small germ. The cotyledons store the food for the developing seedling and also its first two leaves. Much of the food is in the form of a fat (cocoa butter) which accounts for over half of the dry weight of the bean. The moisture content of the bean at this stage is about 65%.

Correct fermentation is essential to produce a good flavour in the final chocolate. It is a process in which the bean is killed, so that it can not be spoiled by germination. In addition certain chemicals are formed, which upon heating give the taste of cocoa, whereas they themselves taste completely different, or may not even taste of anything at all. These are known as flavour precursors as they lead to the flavour, but aren’t that flavour themselves. Unfermented beans may be pressed to produce cocoa butter, but the remaining solid cocoa material is not normally used to make chocolate. A lot of cocoa trees are grown by smallholders and the method of fermentation is traditional, although in some countries there have been attempts to modernise it. There are two main types of method: heap and box fermentation. In West Africa, heap fermentation is widely used. Between 25 and 2500 kg of fresh beans, together with a small amount of the white pulp, are placed in a heap and then covered with banana leaves. The process normally lasts from 5 to 6 days, with the actual length being determined by experience. Some farmers turn the beans after 2 or 3 days. The smaller heaps often produce the better flavours. The larger plantations, particularly in Asia, use the box fermentation technique. The wooden boxes may hold between 1 and 2 tonnes of beans, which are designed with outlet holes or slits, usually in the base . These provide ventilation and let the water, which comes out of the beans and pulp, run away. These may be up to a metre deep, but shallower ones (250-500 mm) often give a better flavour due to the improved ventilation. The beans are tipped from one box to another each day to increase aeration and give a more uniform treatment. Dairy Components In most countries of the world much more milk chocolate is bought and eaten than both dark and white put together. It tends to be softer than dark chocolate and has a creamier taste and texture. The majority of cow’s milk is water but, as was mentioned earlier, moisture destroys the flow properties of liquid chocolate so only the anhydrous components can be used. Typically these form about 13.5% of the liquid milk. The largest component, at just under 5%, is lactose, the disaccharide sugar. There is almost the same amount of milk fat and about 3.5% of protein. Minerals account for Sugar Relative cooling effect about 0.7%. Calcium in particular is regarded as being very beneficial to health. Milk Fat is the second largest component in dehydrated milk and is vital in giving milk chocolate its distinctive texture and flavour release. It also changes its snap and can inhibit the formation of the white powdery surface on chocolate, which is composed of large fat crystals and is known as fat ‘bloom’. The more fat that is present in a liquid chocolate the easier it will flow, both when making sweets and in the mouth. It is also relatively expensive, so the manufacture needs to make the best use of the fat present. Butter fat is almost entirely liquid at room temperature, so there is a limit to the amount that can be added to chocolate for it still to remain hard. To make matters worse there is a phenomenon, called fat eutectics, which means that when two fats are added together the resultant mixture is often softer than would be expected. This softness does, however, reduce the waxiness in the mouth if harder fats than cocoa butter are present. Fractionate milk fats are also available. These are made by separating out the higher or the lower melting point fractions. Certain ones are said to produce a harder chocolate than the normal milk fat, whereas others are thought to give better bloom prevention.

The fat is 98% triacylglycerols (triglycerides), i.e. three acids combined with a glycerol molecule. The remaining significant component is phosphoglyceride (phospholipid) (mainly lecithin) as well as diacylglycerols (diglycerides) (two acids combined with glycerol) and sterols. Milk fat, however, has a limited shelf-life as it can be oxidised or attacked by enzymes (lipolysis). The enzymes accelerate the break-up of the acids into shorter chain free acids, which have a rancid off flavour and make the chocolate unacceptable. When this type of reaction occurs with cocoa butter, however, the acids formed are largely tasteless, so the chocolate remains acceptable. The initial result of oxidation is the formation of peroxides (containing O2 groups). These have no taste themselves but decompose to produce unpleasant off flavours. A measurement of the amount of peroxide present is used to detect the early stages of deterioration. In order to keep the milk fat for longer periods, contact with oxygen must be minimised. Sometimes the air in the packaging is replaced by nitrogen and oxygen barrier packaging is used. Chilled storage is preferred and the presence of copper and iron must be avoided as these act as catalysts for the oxidation process. Not only do these add to the nutritional content of the chocolate, they are also important in determining its flavour, texture and liquid flow properties. A milk chocolate has a creaminess, which depends to a large extent upon the balance between these proteins and the more acidic flavour from the beans. If the protein proportion is reduced the product becomes much less creamy. Also, like lactose, if they are subjected to water and heat, they can take part in the Maillard (browning) reaction, which introduces cooked flavours into the chocolate. There are two very different types of protein involved, namely caseins and whey proteins. There are four to five times as much caseins as there are whey proteins. Caseins act as emulsifiers, i.e. as interfaces between two different media. In chocolate this is likely to be between the solid and fat components . Its actual role is not understood, but calcium caseinate has been shown to produce thinner chocolate, whereas whey proteins make the same chocolate much thicker. The water binding properties of the caseins will also be beneficial to the chocolate flow. Although helping the flavour of some chocolates, the casein flavour itself is not particularly pleasant and may be undesirable in other confectionery products. Milk can be dried to produce a wide range of different powders. The most common powders used for chocolate making are skim milk and full cream milk powder. With the former, milk fat is added at the chocolate making stage so that both powders can be used to make chocolates with the same overall milk components content. They will, however, have different flavours, textures and liquid flow properties. This is in part due to different heat treatments during the drying, but also due to the different state of the fat. With skim milk and milk fat, all the fat is free to react with the particles and cocoa butter, whereas many full cream milk powders have fat tightly bound within the individual particles. This means that there is less fat to help the flow or to soften the cocoa butter, when full cream powders are used. For many years the milk powders were dried on hot rollers. These machines were expensive and hard to maintain in a hygienic condition, so currently most milk powders are produced by spray drying. This involves converting

the milk, which has been partly pre-dried to about 50% moisture, into a mist (‘atomised’) so that it has a very large surface area. The droplets are exposed to a flow of hot air in the drying chamber. The air provides heat to evaporate the water and also acts as a carrier for the powder, which is then collected using cyclones or filter systems. This powder often consists of fine, hollow, spherical particles . When the fat in a chocolate is liquid, these particles must pass by one another when the chocolate flows, e.g. when it moves around the mouth. The differently shaped particles will flow past each other differently, which may result in a change of viscosity. The spherical particles also contain fat inside them, whereas the rollers press most of it onto the surface. This means that roller-dried full cream milk powder chocolates are softer and flow more easily than spray-dried ones. Modifications can be made to the spray-drying procedure to make the particles more crystalline so as to enable them to release the fat more easily. The milk may also be heat treated before spraying, to introduce a more cooked flavour. Sometimes extra fat is added to give a high-fat powder, so that the chocolate manufacturer has no need to make subsequent additions during the production stage. Other powders contain sugar and are a form of chocolate crumb. Affernative Ingredients In this section we are describing a number of areas where ingredients have potential for replacing other ingredients. These will include alternatives to soy-based ingredients, alternatives to gelatin, sweetener alternatives, fat alternatives, source alternatives, alternatives to egg replacers, alternatives to vanilla, carrier/delivery system alternatives, gum/starch alternatives, and culinary ingredient alternatives. Obviously, there are many other categories as well —after all, when considering the number of ingredients and ingredient combinations that are available, and the number of ways that they can be used to replace other ingredients and ingredient combinations, it would require writing a massive tome to get this particular job done. Alternatives to soy When thinking about ingredient alternatives, soy probably immediately comes to mind. As foods are reformulated to make them healthier, soy plays an increasingly important role because of its healthpromoting components and its functionality. Furthermore, developments such as new technologies, growing practices, flavour—masking systems, flavours representing different cuisines of the world, and culinary practices have all but negated problems traditionally associated with soy, such as a beany flavour or flatulence. Over the years, soy has been positioned as an alternative to other ingredients, especially dairy, meat and poultry, and conventional oils. However, as soy becomes more mainstream, it will probably lose its “alternative” mantel and become regarded as simply a healthy ingredient in a variety of reformulated foods, including, ideally, formulations where it works or coexists with ingredients that it was once designed to replace.For that reason, we are not going to include soy as an alternative ingredient here. But rather, in the spirit of looking ahead, we are going to focus on some ingredients that may be positioned as possible alternatives to soy-based ingredients. Rice protein offers a vegan alternative to soy and is utilised more efficiently by the body. With rice protein, after 4 hr, more than 80% of the protein has been digested, compared to about 57% for soy. The ingredient is a naturally derived complete protein and contains all essential and nonessential amino acids. The amino acid profile of rice is reportedly closer to mother’s milk than that of any other protein. The ingredient is suitable for use by those with food allergies and has been used for tube feeding of infants, the elderly, and seriously health-compromised individuals. It has a mild flavour, making it suitable for a variety of applications. An all-natural rice protein concentrate that contains a minimum of 70% rice protein has been recently introduced under the name Remypro N70+ by A&B Ingredients, Inc. Several years in development, the ingredient is said to offer improved flavour, consistent color, reduced grittiness, and superior quality. It can be used to increase the nutritional content of energy bars, meal replacement systems, nutritional supplements, extruded products, and baked goods. According to a representative from the company, the ingredient “has all the advantages of other proteins, without the digestibility problems and potential allergic reactions. For manufacturers of protein products, rice protein is ideal and fulfills a long-overdue need in the market.” An unflavoured, textured, dry wheat protein called Wheatex, which may be used as an alternative to soy, is available from MGP Ingredients, Inc. Produced in different sizes and colors, the wheat-derived ingredient is said have better texture, firmness, and mouthfeel than soy, as well as a neutral flavour profile that does not need to be masked.

The ingredient can be used as an extender for a variety of applications including shredded beef, chicken, fish, turkey, pork, seafood, and barbecued products, and is suitable as a meat replacer in vegetarian products. Among its functionality benefits are a fibrous structure that mimics the look and texture of meat; a low flavour profile with no aftertaste; and an excellent water- and fat-binding capacity for increased yields and reduced formulation costs. Extruded textured whey proteins are suitable as meat extenders and replacers, allowing reduction of fat while maintaining the texture and mouthfeel of a higherfat content. Over the past few years, researchers have been studying the functionality properties of wheybased ingredients in a number of fat-reduced meat products, such as breakfast sausage patties, smoked link sausages, hamburgers, and hot dogs. The ingredient may also be used in such nontraditional applications as snack chips, crisp inclusions, and chewy bits —all applications that soy, interestingly enough, has found inclusion in. Sweetener alternatives A few years ago, the Sunett multisweetener concept was developed by Hoechst Celanese Corp., now Nutrinova Inc. This concept highlighted how the high-intensity sweetener acesulfame K (Sunett) can be combined with other nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, delivering improved taste and reduced calorie consumption to consumers and economic advantages to food and beverage manufacturers. Blending these different sweeteners took advantage of distinctive qualitative synergies produced—both in diet or light products and in full-sugared products. This concept proved to be a very smart marketing strategy, promoting the benefits of acesulfame K as an individual sweetener and in combination with other sweeteners. However, this concept also laid a cornerstone in product development, suggesting that multiple sweeteners could be used to replace part of the sugar content in products without consumers detecting a change in taste. The fact that a number of sweeteners are emerging in the marketplace today, making possible new combinations of sweeteners, is only strengthening this concept and creating additional opportunities for a number of alternatives in the sweetener market. Now, it is important to note that these sweeteners, either by themselves or in combination, provide a number of functionality benefits that can positively impact the sweetness, texture, flavour, and shelf life of the finished formulation. For example, to cool or not to cool can be an important question, as can be seen by the following three prototype formulations demonstrated at Food Expo. A nosugar- added mint chocolate bar prototype available from Kerry Ingredients North America was sweetened with erythritol. The noncaloric bulk sweetener produced from starch by fermentation has a cooling effect which is said to go well with mint. On the other hand, Isomalt LM (a sugar replacer derived from beet sugar) is said to not have a cooling effect —only a naturally sweet taste that allows cocoa flavours to come through in chocolates. The replacer, developed specifically for sugarfree chocolate, was developed by Palatinit of America, Inc. In a sugar-free chocolate, an inulin/ polyol system can provide improved flavour, reduced cooling, synergy with other sweeteners, and a smooth texture. The prototype was highlighted by Orafti Active Food Ingredients. In addition to functionality considerations, another factor is prompting the development of alternative sweeteners: the growing emphasis on formulating with ingredients that have a low-glycemic inspedex suitable for diabetics. Recently Hershey Foods introduced nationally its first sugar-free line of chocolate candies. These confections, intended primarily for consumers with diabetes or those on a restricted carbohydrate diet, were formulated with a sugar substitute, lactitol. Lactitol is described as a slowly metabolised carbohydrate that generally causes only a small rise in blood glucose levels. A new line of sugar-free coatings designed for consumers with sugar-restricted diets was recently introduced by Wilbur Chocolates, an affiliate of Cargill. The coatings are said to be made with ingredients which contain fewer calories, more fiber, and more calcium than ingredients in traditional sugar-free coatings At the Food Expo, the coatings were highlighted in a number of prototype applications, such as chocolate chip cookies, key lime pie bars, and a peanut butter cup. A number of sweeteners which may have impact in the area of health, especially in the development of coated confections, are available from Car gill’s Food and Pharma Specialty Business Unit. These include Eridex brand erythritol, which is said to diminish problems with digestive tolerance sometimes experienced with other polyols, and Ascend™ trehalose, a multifunctional carbohydrate that provides energy with the functional benefits of sucrose but half the sweetness. From a health standpoint, it is interesting to observe how the potential benefits of sweeteners have evolved over the years —from an emphasis on prevention of tooth decay to developing low-glycemic- index foods for diabetics to

weightmanagement issues. Perhaps most important, however, may be their increasing role in reformulating foods in general, creating healthier as well as better-tasting, better- textured products for the mainstream consumer. Alternatives to gelatin Gelatin, a protein that functions as a gelling agent, is obtained from collagen derived from beef bones and calf skin or pork skin. It has been used in such applications as desserts, yogurt, meat coatings, confections, and capsules. In addition to its gelling properties, gelatin is noted for its clean flavour release, its ability to manage water, and the special texture it provides. However, some food manufacturers are seeking alternatives to gelatin for a number of reasons. They may be looking for an ingredient not derived from an animal source, which can provide their product with labeling advantages. Or they are interested in an alternative that offers cost benefits, ease of use, and supply availability. Securing kosher or halal certification might be another consideration. And from a performance standpoint, they would be looking for an ingredient that offers either improved or at least comparable functionality qualities compared to those of traditional gelatin. Fat alternatives In the 1990s, if you were looking for alternatives to fat, your choices most likely would have included ingredients from the carbohydrate group, such as starches, gums, and cellulose; protein-based ingredients; or ingredients derived from fats that contribute fewer calories and less fat. The challenge, of course, was to develop foods with reduced fat while maintaining taste and texture. Although that challenge frequently could not be met, some of these fat-reduction ingredients have been successful and are still in the spotlight. ZTrim, a calorie-free gel produced from processed corn hulls, would probably be one prominent example. Starting in the late 1990s, more and more attention was being paid to ingredients that had nutraceutical or health-promoting properties. Partly because of this, the health focus became broader, looking at a wide range of areas, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, bone health, and, of course, weight management. Partly because of this focus, more attention was spent on the development and promotion of “heathier” fats — ingredients that could play an important role not only in weight management, but also in the overall formulation of healthier foods. These ingredients offer food formulators a number of advantages: they frequently provide low- or no-trans- fattyacid alternatives, they impart the functionality properties of fat, they can provide the health benefits of rich levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and they can be tailored for specific applications. As such, they act as true alternatives —or perhaps successors would be a better word —to the original fat-replacement ingredients that emerged more than a decade ago and the concept that they first tried, successfully or not, to embody. A portfolio of fats an oils providing formulators with zero- and low- transfatty- acid alternatives was launched under the name Nova Lipids by Archer Daniels Midland Co. The range of oils and shortenings (naturally stable oils, tropical oils, blended oils, and enzyme-interesterified shortenings and margarines) can be used in frying applications, baked goods, confections, snacks, cereals products, margarine, nutraceutical beverages, nutrition bars, and supplements. A variety of prototypes made with these fats and oils were showcased by ADM at Food Expo. However, at the 2003 International Pizza Expo, the company highlighted a variety of its healthy ingredients, including its line of low trans-fat vegetable oils, in one of America’s favorite foods, pizza. Toppings included soy “pepperoni” and “Italian sausage.” A representative of the company remarked, “We wanted to show that we can take a classic food such as pizza and make it healthier and still taste great.” In addition to its low-trans alternatives, the company also recently launched Enova, an oil which has increased concentrations of diacylglycerol, a component that is metabolised differently than triglycerides. Because of its chemical structure, more of the oil is said to be burned directly by the body as energy, rather than stored as fat. Another pioneer of healthy fats and oils has been Stepan Co. The company offers Neobee MLT-B, a structured lipid based on medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), as a replacement for partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO). Designed to mimic the solid fat index of PHVO used in baking applications, the ingredient incorporates the dietary and health benefits of MCTs, which are metabolised in 1/8 of the time and deliver fewer calories than typical long-chain fats. Furthermore, MCTs follow a unique metabolic pathway in which they travel directly to the liver (rather than through the lymphatic system) and are therefore not accumulated as fat in body tissues. Another benefit that the company offers is its ability to tailor specialty structured lipids to replace PHVO in applications including salad oils, coatings, pastry, breads, and margarine. The company works with product formulators to develop custom fats that can modify such characteristics as texture, flavour,

viscosity, and stability, to enhance the food product and solve processing problems. Bakery and snack food product formulators can particularly take advantage of these fats, but other applications are developing as well. Starch/gum alternatives Starches and gums play an important role as ingredient alternatives, especially in the area of texture and mouthfeel. To achieve these qualities, today’s food formulator certainly has a wide range of choices — organic vs traditional starches, potato vs tapioca starches, resistant vs nonresistant starches, and native starches vs modified food starches vs native starches with modified food starch capabilities. The same hold true for gums — domestic gums vs nondomestic, gum of one species vs a gum of another species, and even a gum type produced by one company vs the same gum type by another company. When talking about starches and gums as alternatives to each other, it’s sort of confusing. Like sweetener blends, there is a wide number of gum blend possibilities, each tailored to fit a certain application, and each designed to deliver certain functional characteristics to that application. We suspect that when talking about alternatives, the answer as to which one to choose probably lies in these customdesigned gum blends. Furthermore, when a food formulator is developing a product, he or she is looking for certain characteristics, and if a particular starch or gum meets those specifications or at least falls within a certain range, then that ingredient is acceptable. This means that there may be a number of alternatives out there that can do the job. Carrier/delivery system alternatives Sometimes it seems that we as consumers take delivery systems for granted. As long as the flavour, texture, or appearance of the final product meets with our approval, we don’t really consider the means to that goal. However, food formulators have to be aware of the most effective means to achieve the desired result, including a wide range of other factors such as cost, functionality, applications, potential health benefits, source, and labeling, to name a few. And, of course, who they’re targeting their product to —e.g., is the product organic, or low-carb? — can have a major impact on the ingredients being selected. Here are a few ingredients that may be used as alternatives to traditional carrier/delivery systems: • The use of barley malt extract as an alternative to maltodextrin as a carrier for a line of powdered organic juice products is currently being explored by Crystals International, Inc. The company reportedly was able to take advantage of the sugar profiles in barley malt extract, and use the sugars as the actual carrier. Researchers reportedly found that the barley malt extract helped reduce functionality problems they had encountered with other carriers. Additional benefits included the flavour of malt and the positive connotations associated with malt. The company is also planning to explore the use of barley malt extract as a carrier in conventional juice products. • A lipid-based delivery system that extends the use of real fruit is available from Loders Croklaan. Called Fruit Textured BetrFX, the system is said to mimic the texture and appearance of real fruit with flavour and aroma that are more intense than those of the real food. For example, using the system in a 50/50 ratio with real blueberries can yield a product that has improved taste, appearance, and aroma with lower overall cost and the retaining of a “Made with real fruit” label. The system is suitable for use in dry mixes, baked goods, confections, culinary dishes, and frozen applications. • An oil-dispersible caramel color blend that provides sticking power for snack and confectionery applications has been introduced by D.D. Williamson & Co., Inc. The product may be used as an alternative to traditional caramel color which is water soluble or other ingredient systems which can provide adhesion qualities. Barbecue-flavoured seasoning is said to stick better to chips or other snacks with the oil-dispersible caramel color blend. By coating the salt in the seasoning, the new product forms a protective layer to provide better adhesion on the chip. The blend can also enhance cinnamon sugar for toppings and fillings in confections and baked products. By coating the sugar crystals, the new product gives a uniform appearance, as well as better adhesion for the cinnamon. The blend helps to minimise uneven color distribution in a dry or crystal mixture. Vanilla Alternatives When thinking of vanilla, one probably thinks of ice cream or frozen desserts and cookies and other baked goods. But the flavour of vanilla is finding its way in a broad range of other applications, including

beverages, dairy products, confections, and culinary applications. Not only are the applications expanding for vanilla, but also it seems that manufacturers are now interested in trying to duplicate different profiles of vanilla. There is a growing interest in combining vanilla with other flavours, such as strawberry or orange, especially in confections. In light of these factors, it should not be too surprising that new developments are showing promise to not only reduce costs but also provide effective total or partial replacement of vanilla. Two new vanilla flavour systems for high-proof alcoholic beverages have been launched by Danisco USA, Inc. The range of vanilla flavours, developed by the Flavour Creation Group and the Beverage Application Team, are said to extend or eliminate vanilla extract in alcoholic beverages. According to the manufacturer, the first system, using Natural and Artificial Alcohol Blender, helps to replace the vanilla extract used to tone, blend, and smooth the rough notes of alcohol. The second system, a combination of Natural Vanilla Extender and Natural and Artificial Alcohol Blender, completely replaces Vanilla 3X Pure Bourbon Extract in alcoholic beverages without any flavour compromise. The flavour systems are said to provide clean vanilla flavours that only add the flavour profile desired. In addition, use of the systems provides cost savings. “When using a vanilla replacer as a toner or smoother to a high-proof spirit, we can show a savings of approximately 50% based on today’s price of vanilla threefold extract,” said a representative from the company. A range of vanilla flavours called Vantasia has been introduced by Quest International Flavours & Food Ingredients. These flavours are said to be based on new technology, to replicate or enhance the high quality and sophisticated profiles of vanilla extracts at affordable prices. The flavour ingredients do not use vanilla extracts, but contain alternative ingredients which enhance vanilla flavours and make them taste more like extracts. The vanilla flavours are available in liquid versions for use in beverages, ice cream, and other dairy applications; powder forms for use in dry mixes for bakery, beverages, culinary, and desserts; and a bake-stable form for high-temperature processing. The flavours are offered in WONF, natural and artificial, and artificial versions. According to the manufacturer, the flavours include different profiles: Velvet (based on the classic bourbon vanilla profile — indulgently creamy and sweet, enhanced by rummy, woody, and vanilla bean sensations); Sweet Dreams™ (intensely cream and sweet, with generous notes of rich vanilla flavour); Eggstacy (blend of smooth, creamy vanilla with rich custard); and Carmilla (rich creamy vanilla with buttery caramel notes). The company delivers presentations on its new vanilla flavours, including an educational package designed to help customers understand the different prevalent vanilla profiles around the world and also what different consumers associate with vanilla in various regions. It helps customers recognise the value of a complete vanilla profile other than vanillin. Culinary ingredient alternatives Culinary alternatives are ingredients which help processed foods achieve a quality level as close as possible to that of dishes prepared by chefs. These ingredients can provide a number of advantages for the food formulator. These include developing flavours and other ingredients that can capture the authentic flavours of different regions throughout the world; simulate a wide range of different cooking processes, allowing food manufacturers to control flavour consistency and intensity; and minimise processing steps and ingredients, providing cost savings. A number of such alternatives were presented at Food Expo by Kraft Food Ingredients. These included Lard Style Flavour, which offers the rich fatty character of lard but contains no animal products; Mesquite Grill Chicken Flavour and Mexican Char- Grill-style Flavour which captures complex flavour profiles and authentic cooking processes; Neufchatel Cheez Blend, which acts as a partial replacement for Neufchatel; No Bake Filling Mixes, designed to produce a creamy fluffy texture of a mousse-like filling or topping, with the functionality of a one-step mixing process; and many others. A variety of culinary alternatives were launched by Quest International. Flavour development systems called the Meat Designer Wheel™ and the Chicken Designer Wheel™ enable the company to create multiple versions of a flavour in a single afternoon, rather than days or weeks using typical industry methods. Not only can the new approach drastically cut product development time for customers, but also the resulting flavours are all tailored to meet the customer’s specific needs. A line of flavours designed to replace or reinforce fonds or stocks in any application has been developed by Flavour Dynamics, Inc. Called Fondations, the line includes four light fond flavours — lamb, beef, poultry, and vegetable — which are said to simulate fonds created with minimal pre-roasting time. They can be used in any application where the flavour of a fond is desirable — from consomme to dark glazes. Also available are Natural Fondations Flavour Builders, which can work in conjunction with the above four flavours in applications

requiring caramelised or dark notes. The flavours and flavour builders are designed to allow food technologists to standardise their products and eliminate batch-tobatch inconsistencies often created in the cooking process. A variety of flavour and flavour systems, colors, and other ingredients are available to provide the food formulator with a number of benefits. While replicating traditional cooking processes, the approach requires no time-consuming preparation and can help achieve cost savings compared to specialty raw materials that may require special handling and processing). It can extend or replace hard-to-source or exotic ingredients, provide batch-to-batch flavour consistency, and eliminate the need for refrigerated and frozen storage, as most flavours are shelf stable in a dry environment. And it is adaptable to a wide range of processes and applications, including entrees, side dishes, soups, sauces, dressings, marinades, processed meats, and seasonings. Use of wines and other alcoholic spirits can provide flavour in a variety of sauces, especially barbecue, and a wide range of culinary dishes. For those food formula- tors who want to take advantage of the flavour but not necessarily the alcohol, alternatives are available from Todhunter Foods and Monarch Wine Co. Natural wine reductions —available in a variety of flavours, such as red port, burgundy, chablis, sweet marsala, and sherry —offer potent, consistent flavours to sauces or entrees without the sharp notes in wine. As a 10-fold natural reduction, they are said to provide 10 times more flavour than regular cooking wine. Other new products offered by the company include Natural Distilled Spirits 10X in the following flavours: French Brandy, Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Scotch Whiskey, and White Tequila. There is a wide range of ingredients available that can replace other ingredients, and new uses are constantly being explored. A natural alternative to margarine using dairy ingredients was recently introduced by Silver Research Inc., a product development firm, in a cooperative effort with Dairy Management Inc. Called Silver Spread, the “buttery-tasting” product was made using a patented process, with the help of DMI’s technical support team. It is currently being introduced throughout the Philadelphia area. According to the manufacturer, the lactose- free spread consists of fresh co-precipitated milk, sweet cream butter, and whey protein. It is said to contain 70% less fat and 60% less calories than margarine. Furthermore, it does not contain hydrogenated oils or trans fatty acids, and is suitable for baking and cooking. This product reflects the innovative ways that ingredients can be used as alternative ingredients or replacers.

Biotechnology

Introduction Generally, any technique that is used to make or modify the products of living organisms in order to improve plants or animals or to develop useful microorganisms. By this definition, biotechnology has actually been practised for centuries, as exemplified by the use of yeast and bacteria in the production of various foods, such as wine, bread, and cheese. However, in modern terms, biotechnology has come to mean the use of cell and tissue culture, cell fusion, molecular biology, and in particular, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology to generate unique organisms with new traits or organisms that have the potential to produce specific products. Some examples of products in a number of important disciplines are described below.

Genetics Recombinant DNA technology opened new horizons in the study of gene function and the regulation of gene action. In particular, the ability to insert genes and their controlling nucleic acid sequences into new recipient organisms allows for the manipulation of these genes in order to examine their activity in unique environments, away from the constraints posed in their normal host. Transformed plants, animals, yeast, and bacterial genes may be examined in this way

Microbiology Genetic transformation normally is achieved easily with microorganisms; new genetic material may be inserted into them, either into their chromosomes or into extrachromosomal elements, the plasmids. Thus, bacteria and yeast can be created to metabolize specific products or to produce new products. Concomitant technologies have been developed to scale up the production of the microorganisms to generate products, such as enzymes, carbohydrates, and proteins, in great quantity.

Immunology Genetic engineering has allowed for significant advances in the understanding of the structure and mode of action of antibody molecules. Practical use of immunological techniques is pervasive in biotechnology. Notably, antibodies are used in diagnostic procedures for detecting diseases of plants and animals, and in detecting minute amounts of such materials as toxic wastes, drugs, and pesticides. The antibodies themselves are employed to target therapeutic agents to specific cellular sites. Antibodies are bivalent molecules that bind to their target molecules at one or both of their two combining sites. Hybrid antibodies have been produced in which one of the sites contains a drug or a poison while the other site directs the antibody to its target, that is, a cancerous cell. The ability to artificially combine subunits of antibodies produced in different species also will tailor them for specific targets. Antibodies can be prepared that have enzymatic properties, thereby enabling them to deactivate target molecules with which they combine in a cell.

Monoclonal antibodies respond to a single antigenic site, allowing for great specificity. They have been most important in the diagnostic: arena, where tests have been developed for human, plant, and animal diseases and for pregnancy and ovuiation prediction.

Agriculture Agriculture is concerned with producing plants that are tolerant to specific herbicides. This tolerance would allow crops to be sprayed with the particular herbicide, and only the weeds would be killed, not the genetically engineered crop species. Some herbicide-tolerant crop species have been isolated by selection of tissue culture variants, but in other cases plants have been transformed with genes from bacteria that

detoxify the herbicide. For example, a gene isolated from the soil bacterium Klebsiella ozaenae has been used to create plants that are resistant to the herbicide bromoxynil. Other strategies have been to alter plants so that they will overproduce the herbicide-sensitive biochemical target, or so that the biochemical target will be altered, thereby reducing the affinity of the herbicide for its biochemical target in the crop species.

Tolerance to plant virus diseases has been induced in a number of crop species by transforming plants with portions of the viral genome, in particular the virus’s coat protein and the replicase enzyme used for virus multiplication. Plants exhibiting this tolerance are available for commercial use once regulatory constraints are removed. Genes coding for protein toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis have been introduced into a number of plant species to provide insect tolerance. Potato plants tolerant to the Colorado potato beetle and cotton plants tolerant to the cotton boll worm were the first commercial products of this technology. There are a number of techniques that can be used to enhance the quality and nutrition of foods. Recombinant DNA strategies are used to retard the softening of tomatoes so they can reach the consumer with better flavor and keeping qualities. There is a technique to increase the starch content of the potato to enhance the quality of french fries and potato chips, including reduction of their capacity to absorb oils during processing. With both selective plant breeding and genetic engineering, oil seed rape (also known as canola or Brassica napus) has been produced to yield plant-based oils (oleochemicals) for the specialty chemicals industry. Such oils are used to produce amides, fatty acids, esters, and other chemical intermediates. Oils high in erucic acid are used as lubricants and as additives to automatic transmission fluid. Oil seed rape is also an important source of oil for margarine production and cooking. Genetic engineering techniques can also be used to lower the proportion of saturated fat by inserting the gene for the stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase enzyme gene into oil seed rape and other oil-producing crop plants. Biotechnology also holds great promise in the production of vaccines for use in maintaining the health of animals, Subunit vaccines could replace live-virus or killed-whole-virus vaccines. For example, feline leukemia is estimated to infect 1,5 million cats annually in the United States. Conventional vaccines are ineffective against the virus and may actually spread the disease, but the subunit vaccines that have been developed overcome these disadvantages. Another example is pseudorabies virus, the causal agent of a disease affecting hogs. The conventional killed-virus vaccine gives only partial protection, and a livevirus vaccine is only slightly more effective, but there is a genetically engineered vaccine. This vaccine reduces virus virulence because the gene producing the enzyme that enables the virus to escape from nervous tissue has been deleted. Another vaccine incorporates genes for pseudorabies proteins into viable

vaccinia virus as a vector to immunize animals. Recombinant vaccines have also been produced for footand-mouth virus and parvovirus. Interferons may be useful in treating bovine shipping fever, a complex of respiratory infections manifested during the crowded conditions experienced by cattle when shipped. Recombinant produced bovine growth hormone is effective in increasing the production of milk in cows and in reducing the ratio of fat to lean meat in beef cattle. Animals may be transformed to carry genes from other species, including humans, and are being used to produce valuable drugs. This technology has been termed biopharming. For example, goats are used to produce tissue plasminogen activator, which has been effective in dissolving blood dots. Transgenic animals have been produced that carry the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus, providing a practical cost-effective experimental model system to test control measures for the disease Plant Science Plants can be transformed quite easily to enable them to express foreign genes. This field developed very rapidly after the first transformation of a plant was reported in 1982, and a number of transformation procedures are now available. The plasmid derived from the plant pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens is widely used as a transformation vector. Another method involves shooting DNA-coated tungsten (or gold) particles into cells. Controlling genetic elements have been identified that allow for the insertion of genes into specific tissues or plant organs. For example, nucleic acid sequences may be targeted to the pollen grain to specifically inactivate genes involved in producing pollen, thereby allowing for the production of sterile male plants. Such a technique can be useful in the commercial production of hybrid seeds of crop species.

Coupled with these transformation procedures has been the development of tissue culture techniques to enable the transformed cells to be regenerated into whole plants. Many plant species have been regenerated by this technique, thereby facilitating the transfer of useful genes to the most important crops

(rice, maize, wheat, and potatoes). Cultures of plant cells, roots, and tissues are used to produce secondary plant products, such as the anticancer drug taxol. Medicine Genetic engineering has enabled the large-scale production of proteins which have great potential for treatment of heart attacks. One of these drugs is tissue plasminogen activator, which is effective in dissolving blood dots. Active tissue plasminogen activator, a very minor constituent of human blood vessels and some other tissues, can be produced by recombinant technology in transformed tissue culture cells or in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Urokinase is produced by recombinant technology; it has potential for the treatment of heart attacks is urokinase. Human gene products, produced with genetic engineering technology, may have potential use as commercial drugs. Cloned human growth hormone is being used for the treatment of childhood dwarfism. Epidermal growth factor, a protein that causes the replication of epidermal cells, has applications to wound healing. Recombinant technology has also been employed to produce vaccines from subunits of viruses, so that the use of either live or inactivated viruses as immunizing agents is avoided. Conventional vaccines are sometimes infectious in themselves, and most require refrigeration which makes their use in tropical countries a problem Poliovirus vaccines involving attenuated live virus are a source of the perpetuation of the disease due to rare mutations of the virus to virulence. Recombinant technology is being used to modify the viral genome to prevent reversion. Malaria, one of the most important parasitic diseases of humans, is another case in which biotechnology is being applied to produce a vaccine. Proteins from the causal organism, Plasmodium sp., are poorly immunogenic To enhance immunogenicity, they are transferred to the attenuated bacterium Salmonella typhimuriim, which is then used as an immunizing agent Another strategy has been to fuse the gene for the immunological determinant to that of a hepatitis B virus protein, to express the fusion protein in yeast, and to use that chimeric protein as a vaccine. Cloned genes and specific, defined nucleic acid sequences can be used as a means of diagnosing infectious diseases or in identifying individuals with the potential for genetic disease, The specific nucleic acids used as probes are normally tagged with radioisotopes, and the DNAs of candidate individuals are tested by hybridization to the labeled probe. The technique has been used to detect latent viruses such as herpes, bacteria, mycoplasmas, and plasmodia, and to identify Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In some cases, restriction-length polymorphisms are useful. When DNA is cut into small fragments by specific restriction enzymes and then is probed with specific genes or nucleic acids, differences between individuals in a population can be identified, and the relationships of specific patterns to specific diseases or traits can be determined. This technology is also used for identifying important genes in plants and animals in order to improve breeding stocks. The technique known as DNA fingerprinting is another application of the technology, specifically as a forensic tool. It allows a specific identity to be assigned to individuals through their DNA in much the same way that fingerprints are used. The technique has the potential of distinguishing the DNA from one individual in a population of 10 billion. Tissue samples containing DNA left at the scene of a crime, such as bone, blood, semen, skin, hair (if it is attached to its root), saliva, and sweat, can be used in the procedure. If the amount of DNA found is too small to be useful, the technique of polymerase chain reaction can amplify it to practical levels. Gene functions can often be blocked by attacking them with complementary or antisense sequences of the same gene. This is valuable in defining functions for specific genes, but it also has a number of practical applications. In agriculture it has been used to generate male sterile plants, enabling the production of hybrid varieties more easily, and to slow the ripening of tomatoes. Antisense technology also presents the opportunity for useful gene therapy. For example, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be inhibited by transforming T lymphocytes with antisense nucleic acids directed against a virus enzyme, reverse transcriptase. It is also possible to put foreign genes into cells and to target them to specific regions of the recipient genome. This presents the possibility of developing specific therapies for hereditary diseases, exemplified by sickle-cell anemia, which is caused by a defect in the B-globin gene which results in defective hemoglobin in affected individuals. Environment Microorganisms, either genetically engineered or selected from natural populations, are used to degrade toxic wastes in the environment. For example, polycyclic aromatic compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, and petroleum products which contaminate soil and ground-water supplies may

be degraded by populations of microorganisms. These technologies have the potential to solve some significant environmental problems. Waste products of industry and agriculture are being composted, with added microorganisms selected for their capacity to degrade organic materials.

Chemical Setting Internal setting by chemical reaction is used to prepare fruit analogs that have fairly uniform texture such as apple, peach, pear, and apricot. A two-feed process involving rapid mixing is employed. One feed, which is near pH 7, contains alginate and the calcium-ion source anhydrous dicalcium phosphate; the other feed contains fruit puree, sequestrant, and acid. Since the alginate is predissolved, no alginate hydration problems are encountered. Dicalcium phosphate is insoluble at neutral pH. The structured fruit is prepared by pumping the two mixes through a suitable highspeed mixer and then allowing the final mixture to set under shear-free conditions. The gelling reaction is brought about by the calcium ions released from the dicalcium phosphate, which dissolves as the pH is lowered on contact with the acidic puree phase. The product can next be extruded onto a slab on a moving conveyor and then be diced or cut into uniform shapes prior to further processing. This method is also used to produce pimento pieces. There are also two other chemical processes which employ alginates—diffusion setting and setting by cooling—and these also are used in the fruit industry to produce structured fruits. Types Analog foods may be divided into three groups: dairy products, meats, seafood, and egg products; fruit and vegetable products; and farinaceous products. Dairy Products Margarine was one of the first food analogs to be introduced into the marketplace in the United States. This term applies to certain types of shortenings as well as table spreads. The total consumption of table spreads in the United States has remained rather constant since 1970, but butter has declined in popularity while margarine has increased, mostly because of concerns over heart disease and cholesterol. In the United States, margarine is made largely from vegetable oils that have been hydrogenated and crystallized to remove high-melting triglycerides in order to achieve the proper spreading texture. The vegetable oils may also be blended with lesser quantities of animal fats. In the United States, margarine must contain no less than 80% fat by law. To provide proper spreadability and reduce calorie consumption, whipped butters and whipped margarines are made by incorporating more water and air into them.

Imitation milks made from soy protein isolates and vegetable oil have met with limited consumer acceptance. Improvement in quality, plus a greater economic advantage over cow’s milk, seems necessary before these products become successful. These products have become available in paper-foil containers as a result of the development of asceptic processing of liquids. Frozen dairy novelties with artificial fruit flavors have been marketed for many years, targeted mainly for children. Structured frozen pudding products on a stick have been manufactured as well. This product is manufactured by using freezing equipment and a formula that will minimize dripping while allowing excellent textural and other sensory properties. Many cheese analogs with a variety of characteristics are available. The key benefits of cheese analogs are linked to economics and nutrition, while some products are formulated to have improved melting qualities, such as on pizza. These analogs are prepared by comminuting and mixing, with the aid of heat, one or more types of cheese plus soy protein and certain emulsifying salts; water, seasoning, and color may be added. When certain optional dairy ingredients such as cream, skim milk, whey, or their solids are added to the cheese blend and processed, the product is called a pasteurized process cheese food or a pasteurized process cheese spread. Both products may contain less fat and more moisture than process cheese as prescribed in the Federal Definitions and Standard of Identity. In addition, the pasteurized process cheese is spreadable at 70°F (21°C). Cheese analogs are less subject to spoilage and shrinkage in weight than natural cheeses. Advantages to the consumer are a more uniform flavor, no waste, and excellent keeping quality. Structured cheese bits are also available. They have good microbiological stability and integrity and are used for incorporation into other food products, such as meats and salad dressings. Meats, Seafood, and Eggs The use of soy proteins to manufacture simulated meals became very popular in the 1960s and was enhanced by rising beef prices. However, simulated meats (meat, poultry, and seafood analogs) have not achieved the popularity that was predicted. While extruded soy products have a cost advantage over the spun-fiber items, they contain residual flavors plus the oligosaccharides stachyose and raffinose, which appear to cause flatus when soy is ingested. Bacon-flavored textured soy products are sold in retail stores and are marketed to hotels, restaurants, and institutions. Beef- and chickenlike products have been developed for addition to canned chili, dry-mix chicken ala king, and Spanish rice. Other uses are as replacement for part of the freeze-dried meats in dry soup mixes and for simulation of meat particles in dips, crackers, and snacks. Fine particles of textured soy

flour are used as extenders in beef and pork patties, where they reduce the stickiness of meat, thereby permitting better release from patty-making equipment. Much of the meat analog production is designed for the food service industry—hotels, restaurants, armed services, and institutions—which makes up a sizable segment of the food market. The scarcity of skilled workers in the food service industry places a premium on convenience in food preparation. Prepared foods containing meat analogs have been developed that require only thawing or reconstitution and heating. A striplike bacon analog has been on the market for a number of years. This product is made by laying down spun isolate fibers randomly and holding them together with an edible binder. Alternating layers of red and uncolored fibers are employed to simulate the lean and fat portion of bacon. The product is shaped, set by heat, sliced, and finally frozen. For consumption the product is merely heated. Since cooking or frying is not necessary, there is no shrinkage, as compared with regular bacon which shrinks to 25% of its original weight. Other innovative meat analogs are the formed meats. The product is formed by compressing meat under high pressure to simulate various structures, for example, ribs or patties, The benefits are portion control and a lean and boneless product. Examples of fabricated seafood products are the so-called surimi (compressed fish and shellfish mixtures with added flavor and binding agents) and fish rings. Fish rings of uniform size and texture can be fabricated under high-speed conditions at refrigeration or freezing temperature. This method is used for products from clam, squid, crab, shrimp, scallop, and abalone. The first egg analogs were products that imitate scrambled eggs when cooked, but do not contain cholesterol. These products are made from various egg proteins and dairy ingredients with added flavor, color, emulsifiers, and stabilizers. The ingredients are blended together, pasteurized, homogenized, and packaged for refrigerated storage. Fruits and Vegetables Popularity of structured fruits has grown because of uniformity in regard to quality, color, size, and taste. These products are also low in moisture content, convenient, and steadv in supply because of independence of seasonal harvest. In the manufacturing of these products, stabilizers such as pectin, locust bean gum, and xanthan gum are used.

One of the largest applications for structured vegetables is in Europe, where pimento strips are manufactured for use in stuffed olives. Structured pimento strips made from alginate and guar gum allow for automatic stuffing at a reduced cost, compared to regular pimentos, which are fragile, require manual stuffing, and have an uncertain supply position. The manufacturing process can be adapted to produce such products as structured tomatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini, green peppers, and mushrooms. The process can also be adapted to produce dehydrated vegetable pieces, such as onions, peppers, carrots, and peas, for such applications as dry soups and sauces, where uniformity and rehydration properties are important. Structured onion rings are widely used in the food service industry because they provide excellent portion control, whereas natural onion rings vary in

size, leading to serving problems as well as complicating batter and breading operations. Structured onion rings are made by producing a mash from dehydrated minced onions, flour, salt, and alginates and forming it into rings by a machine similar to that used to produce doughnuts. The rings are dropped into a calcium chloride bath where they acquire alginate skins, giving the rings sufficient rigidity to undergo the breading and frying process. Farinaceous Foods The various possibilities for making farinaceous foods available through extrusion and compression are enormous. Products include granola bars, corn chips, potato snacks, and breakfast cereals containing soy flour as an additive to improve the amino acid balance of cereal proteins and to increase protein content. Bakery Products This category of foodstuffs includes such an extraordinarily diverse group of products that it is difficult to define. It is generally agreed that baked products contain, as a minimum, flour, water, and salt, but there are even exceptions to this rule—for example, flourless “cakes” and salt-free bread. Although the name indicates that they are cooked by baking in an oven, many varieties having similar composition, uses, and appearance are fried, for example, doughnuts and certain types of breads.

Formulations There are numerous formulations for producing bakery products, providing a wide variety of nutritional choices. Bread and Rolls Acceptable white bread can be made from flour, water, salt, and yeast. Italian bread is usually based on this simple combination of ingredients, and French and Vienna breads are seldom much more complicated. These basic breads tend to have a hard crust that is light in color, a coarse and rather tough interior, and a flavor that is excellent when the bread is fresh but considerably less desirable when it has been out of the oven several hours. Sweeteners, milk, and shortening are often added to improve flavor and texture; and eggs are used occasionally in specialty loaves. Barley malt syrup is very helpful in controlling fermentation. Sometimes a “sour dough” or starter consisting of a piece of dough from a previous batch that has been held a few days is used instead of, or to supplement, the yeast. Mold inhibitors and starch complexing agents (such as monoglycerides of fatty acids) can be used to improve the storage life of the bread. Yeast foods, enzymes, and emulsifiers are sometimes included to modify the processing response of the dough. Most bread is made with enriched flour, which contains several added vitamins and minerals. Loaves are generally regarded as bread units which are more than about 8 oz (0.2 kg) in weight and are intended to be cut into chunks or slices for individual service. Rolls are considered to be portion-sized pieces, and they often have decorative conformations (as Kaiser rolls) and may be topped, as with sesame seeds, onion pieces, or poppy seeds. Both loaves and roils may be “washed” with a fluid made from combinations of eggs, milk, and sugar before baking in order to enhance appearance of the crust. Hot rolls may be brushed with melted butter or other shortening to give a shiny crust and an attractive aroma. There are many variations in shape, flavor, texture, and adjuncts (such as toppings and fillings). Mixtures similar in composition to those described above can serve as the basis for pizza crusts, pita bread, soda crackers, English muffins, and bagels by varying the postmixer processing steps. Variations in composition to include whole wheat flour, and meals from rye, corn, and oats, as well as many noncereal ingredients such as potato flour and soy derivatives, yield a number of familiar items.

Sweet Yeast-raised Products By increasing the levels of shortening, milk, and sweeteners in a basic bread formula, many products suitable for consumption as snacks or desserts can be prepared. These items are generally spiced and flavored and may also include adjuncts such as fruit gels, nuts, and pastry creams. Doughnuts, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, and Danish pastry are examples. Traditional Danish pastry is made from a rich dough which is sheeted out and layered with butter, after which it is repeatedly folded and sheeted until it is “made up” into fancy rolls or coffee cakes. The repeated folding and sheeting give Danish pastries a fine, silky texture with a rather flaky crust.

Chemically Leavened Products This exceedingly diverse category includes all those bakery foods which rely on baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) as the source of carbon dioxide. Soda is usually added in the form of baking powder, which contains baking soda, some inert materials such as starch, and an acidic substance that will react with the soda to generate carbon dioxide. If baking soda is added separately to the mix, it is necessary to put some acidic ingredient such as molasses, sour milk, or cream of tartar into the batter. Chemically leavened products include cakes, cookies, certain kinds of crackers, cake doughnuts, most types of muffins, soda biscuits, and pancakes. Generally, these products are slightly to moderately denser than bread and rolls, and they are more crumbly due to a less elastic internal structure. In the absence of added flavors, they are also blander than yeast-leavened products, because they lack yeast and the by-products of fermentation. On a flour-weight basis (that is, flour = 100%), the sugar content of batters for white or yellow layer cakes should fall in the range 110-160%. Shortening should be about 30-70%, while eggs should at least equal the added fats and oils. Liquid milk (whole or skim) should exceed the amount of sugar by about 2535%. Soda should be added in an amount equal to about 1.2-2% of the flour weight, with salt 3-4%. Obviously, these general rules are often violated to secure special effects or to compensate for special processing limitations or ingredient problems. Drop-type cookies can be made from cake batters, but commercial cookie formulas usually contain much less water and often contain less flour than the conventional cake batter. Some cookies, such as sugar wafers and shortbreads, contain no baking soda. The viscosity of the dough or batter must be adjusted to meet the requirements of cookie-forming machines, which are often very sensitive to small changes in the material to be processed.

Miscellaneous Products Angel food cakes and most pound cakes do not contain arty leavening compound. They rely on the air whipped in during mixing for their porous structure and expansion in the oven. Pie crusts are usually made of simple mixtures of flour, fat, salt, and water; since expansion of the dough is not required, leaveners are not added. Turnovers, popovers, and cream puff and eclair shells are leavened by expansion of water vapor and air in their interior as their temperature rises during baking. These batters often include relatively large percentages of shortening or eggs, Processing Equipment and Methods Although both the individual pieces of equipment and the methods of assembling them into production lines differ greatly for different kinds of products; bakery equipment functions can be generalized as measuring, mixing, holding doughs in controlled environments, separating into pieces of predetermined weight, shaping or forming, baking, combining with adjuncts, cooling or tempering, and packaging. The sequence in which these steps are performed is not necessarily in this order, and steps may be omitted or added for specialized products. Measuring and Mixing In large commercial bakeries, the measuring of ingredients is usually done automatically by meters and scales that receive bulk materials from tanks and silos. Minor ingredients such as colors and flavors are weighed and added manually in most plants. Mixing devices and processes have many features in common with their counterparts in other food factories, but two functions peculiar to bakeries-dough development and air incorporation-require special designs. The term development is applied to a type of mixing that yields an elastic, extensible dough. Development is accomplished by using mixer agitators that press, stretch, and fold the dough while causing relatively minor amounts of tearing and cutting. Doughs for bread and rolls are typical examples of the intermediates requiring this type of mixing. A common type of mixer suitable for dough development has a large U-shaped container enclosing three or four thick cylindrical rollers which are oriented lengthwise in the trough and move in a circular pattern around the horizontal axis of the trough during the mixing cycle (Fig. ).

Fig. Front view diagram of a horizontal dough mixer. Air incorporation occurs in virtually all doughs and batters as a normal and expected result of the mixing process. The size and distribution of the air bubbles have a pronounced effect on the internal structure and ultimate size of the finished product. Angel food cake batter is an example of a material that is leavened entirely by the air bubbles whipped into it during mixing, and special agitators are needed to fold in the air and subdivide it into small, uniform bubbles which are optimal for these cakes, Controlled Environments Virtually all yeast-leavened doughs must undergo one or more fermentation periods during which the yeast metabolizes carbohydrates and causes numerous changes in the dough. In order to control the rate of these reactions and maintain the dough in suitable condition for further processing, the dough must be held in rooms or cabinets that are maintained within narrow temperature and relative-humidity ranges. In its crudest possible form, the container will consist of a large tub or trough covered with a board. More sophisticated devices include conveyors with individual pockets for dough pieces traveling in cabinets provided with means for closely controlling the temperature and humidity. Temperatures are maintained by circulating air through steam-heated or electrically heated radiators, while high humidity is ensured by injecting water vapor into the cabinet. A high relative humidity is needed to prevent drying out, crusting, and loss of weight. Dividing and Rounding These steps are used in processing yeast-leavened doughs. They are distinct from the final forming and shaping processes that establish the contours of the finished product. The mass of dough that comes out of a mixer (sometimes having undergone a prior fermentation stage) is dumped into the hopper of a divider, which squeezes a small amount of the dough into a chamber of adjustable volume (Fig.). The size of the dough piece is adjusted to give a baked product having the desired weight. Since the undivided dough mass

continues to ferment and change in density, the divided dough pieces may slowly change in weight as the process continues, even though the divider presses much of the gas out of the dough.

Fig.. Small integrated bread make-up system A mass of bread dough is placed in the hopper of the divider (right) which cuts it into pieces of uniform weight. The rounder (center foreground) receives the rough pieces from the divider, forms them into spheroids, and delivers them to the overhead proofer. The dough undergoes a fermentation period while traveling through the proofer in individual pockets. The proofed dough pieces fall into the molder (center background) which sheets the dough and then curls it into a cylinder ready for depositing into baking pans. (Adam Equipment Co.) From the divider, the dough pieces are carried immediately to a rounder, if bread loaves are being made. The rounder rolls the dough along a spiral guide fitted to the contours of a vertically oriented coneshaped rotor. The cone is usually ridged or corrugated and rotates so as to mold the dough piece into a roughly spherical shape as it moves up the guide. The action develops a relatively smooth surface on the dough piece, thereby slowing down the loss of carbon dioxide and water during subsequent steps. The dough is then proofed, or held at controlled temperature and humidity for a length of time necessary to develop the desired handling characteristics and internal structure. The flavor of the finished product also depends to a considerable extent on the reactions occurring during the proofing step. Forming the Product There are many kinds of dough-forming equipment in use of which the following are examples. Most cookies are formed in one of three ways: (1) dough is pressed into a die cavity engraved in the surface of a cylinder and then removed by suction; (2) soft, batterlike mixtures are extruded through shaped orifices and the strand cut into individual cookies by wires or pulled apart by the relative motion of the extruder and the oven band; or (3) doughs are sheeted out and stamped into individual circles, squares, or other shapes by reciprocating or rotating dies. To form finished rolls and loaves of bread, various combinations of sheeting, cutting, curling, and stamping are used. In some fully automatic bread production lines, a very soft cylinder of dough is extruded from the mixing chamber directly into the baking pan. Baking The baking process may take a few minutes for some crackers and cookies to well over an hour for large loaves of hearth breads. The usual type of oven used for the mass production of bread, cookies, and many other types of baked products is a long chamber, open at both ends, through which the products are carried on a continuous metal belt (Fig.). These tunnel ovens are commonly heated by gas flames burning inside the chamber, but some are heated by electricity, oil, or steam. The burners or other heating elements can be external to the main chamber, with hot air being carried into the oven by blowers.

Fig. Tunnel oven. Loaf-size dough pieces enter the oven at left background and are carried through the baking chamber on a continuous metal belt which serves as the hearth. The baked loaves exit at right foreground. Ordinary pan bread would require sets of pans conveyed by a slightly different mechanism, but the basic oven structure would be the same. Cooling or Tempering It is important to bring the temperature of a baked product to within a few degrees of normal room temperature before it is packaged. For small, low-moisture products such as crackers, cookies, and pretzels, cooling must be done slowly so that moisture remaining after the item leaves the oven has an opportunity to redistribute more or less uniformly before the piece hardens, Otherwise, the product may crack spontaneously during subsequent handling and storage. If large pieces of relatively high moisture content, such as loaves of bread, are packed while they are hot, moisture may condense on the crust, leading to more rapid spoilage from mold growth. Refrigeration is seldom used for cooling; most bakeries rely on the forced circulation of room temperature air to perform this function. Adjuncts Toppings, fillings, icings, and other adjuncts may be added either before or after baking, depending on their characteristics and the effect desired. In most cases, the applicators are fairly simple machines which sprinkle seeds, granules, spices, or other condiments as the rolls pass beneath a hopper equipped with a rotating distributor bar at the bottom. Packaging Packaging of bakery products is relatively simple compared to the elaborate methods needed for many other foodstuffs, because either they are distributed by systems that take into consideration their short shelf life or they are low-moisture products that do not readily support microbiological activity. Consequently, breads and rolls are often packaged in nonrigid containers such as paper bags or (more commonly) heat-sealed plastic bags that offer moderate protection against environmental hazards such as insects, mold spores, and dust. Films used for the bags are often made of polyethylene or plastic-coated cellophane. Cereal Products Cereal grains are the primary ingredient of breakfast cereals. The processing of cereal grains into ready-to-eat or quick-cooking specialty items has been rapidly developed as a food industry, initiated only during the past century. These cereals have been promoted based on nutritional and health aspects, convenience, and variety. Consumer acceptance of breakfast cereals has been greatly influenced by product eating qualities, including size and shape, crispness, and flavor, all of which are controlled through the formulation and process sequences.

Early traditional prepared cereals were primarily precooked and dehydrated whole grains or kernel, portions. Many basic cereals are prepared in near-traditional methods; however, most ready-to eat products are prepared by blending flours (wheat, corn, oat, soy, and rice), malt, sugar, milk solids, and selected functional and nutritional additives with water, and mixing to produce a plastic dough that may be manipulated to yield distinctive products. Doughs are heated to produce a soft textured gelatinized starch and to provide desired color and flavor. Extrusion technology has been developed that permits continuous controlled blending and mixing, heating, and a broad spectrum of intricate size and shape configurations. The formed dough piece may be delivered at a critical moisture level or may require tempering prior to additional processing. Efficient extruders may be used as the complete heating and forming and expansion unit, or may be used as a specialized stage of preparation in a flaking or puffing operation. The continuous processing of a wide variety of cereal items can be accomplished only through critical control of formulation and process parameters. Flaked Cereals The preparation of flaked cereals is initiated by relatively simple cooking of milled or whole grain.

Corn Flake Products These flaked cereals are traditional. Blends of corn grits (free of germ and bran) are pressurecooked in rotating horizontal cookers in the presence of water, malt, sugar, salt, and flavorings. This process requires an extensive cooking at about 18 lb/in.2 (120 kilopascals) steam pressure for 1-2 h to provide for starch hydrolysis and gelatinization, development of nonenzymatic browning, inactivation of enzymes, and infusion of moisture. Property cooked grits will be tender and a translucent brown, possessing about 33% moisture. Cooked grits are mechanically separated and gently dried to about 20% moisture and tempered under conditions which will assure equilibration of moisture throughout each grit. Following the batch pressure cooking, a pelletizing process may be utilized to incorporate additional ingredients to enable uniform blending of a variety of grains into each flake, and to enhance uniformity and size of final toasted flakes Tempered grits or pellets are passed between smooth cool flaking rolls. The gap (nip) between these roils is controlled to aid flake size, thickness, and shape. Within the flaking operation, each grit is flattened and expressed to the characteristic flake shape. Tempered moisture control is important to assure uniform flake sizing. Preheating of tempered grits immediately preceding the flake rolls has been demonstrated to reduce cell rupture during flaking, resulting in a reduced rate of hydration (increased bowl crispness) in the final product. Cool moist flakes are hot air-toasted at temperatures exceeding 525°F (274°C) for differential times sufficient to dehydrate, crisp, brown, and blister the flake surface, The conditions of the toasting phase may be controlled to enhance flake crispness and surface.

Culinary and Food Ingredients The word culinary derives from the latin word culina, meaning kitchen. It is commonly used as reference to things related to cooking or the culinary profession. The culinary profession is cooking as a profession, i.e. chefs, restaurant management, dieticians, nutritionists, etc.

Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the individual cooking. The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it. Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties. There is archaeological evidence of cooked foodstuffs, both animal and vegetable, in human settlements dating from the earliest known use of

fire. The earliest use of cooking was possibly done by Homo erectus, although the evidence is in contention among paleoanthropologists.

If heat is used in the preparation of food, this can kill or inactivate potentially harmful organisms including bacteria and viruses. The effect will depend on temperature, cooking time, and technique used. The temperature range from 4°C to 57°C (41 °F to 135°F) is the “food danger zone.” Between these temperatures bacteria can grow rapidly. Under the correct conditions bacteria can double in number every twenty minutes. The food may not appear any different or spoiled but can be harmful to anyone who eats it. Meat, poultry, dairy products, and other prepared food must be kept outside of the “food danger zone” to remain safe to eat. Refrigeration and freezing do not kill bacteria, but only slow their growth. Much edible animal material is made of proteins, including muscle, offal, and egg white. Almost all vegetable matter also includes proteins although generally in smaller amounts. They may also be a source of essential amino acids. When proteins are heated to near boiling point they become de-natured and change texture. In many cases this causes the structure of the material to become softer or more friable meat becomes cooked. In some cases proteins can form more rigid structures such as the production of stable foams using egg whites. These are believed to be formed through the partial unravelling of the albumen protein molecules in response to beating with a whisk. The formation of a relatively rigid but flexible matrix from egg white provides an important component of much cake cookery and also underpins many desserts based on meringue. Fats and oils come from both animal and plant sources. In cooking, fats provide tastes and textures but probably the most significant attribute is the wide range of cooking temperatures that can be provided by using a fat as the principal cooking medium rather than water. Commonly used fats and oils include butter, olive oil, sunflower oil, lard, beef fat - both dripping or tallow, rapeseed oil or Canola, and peanut oil. The inclusion of fats tend to add flavour to cooked food even though the taste of the oil on its own is often unpleasant. This fact has encouraged the popularity of high fat foods many of which are classified as junk food such as hamburgers or convenience fried cereal snacks. Fats can also be blended with cereal flours to make a range of doughs and pastries. Roux made with heated fat and flour can also absorb large volumes of water-based liquids, including milk and water itself to form smooth sauces. This relies on the properties of starches to create simpler mucilaginous saccharides during cooking, which causes the familiar

thickening of sauces. Oils are commonly emulsified with water-based fluids such as vinegar or lemon juice to make mayonaises. In this the fatty content of egg yolk is used as the emulsification agent.

Carbohydrates used in cooking include a variety of sugars and starches including cereal flour, rice, arrowroot, and potato. Long chain sugars such as starch tend to break down into more simple sugars when cooked or made more acidic, such as with lemon juice or vinegar. Simple sugars can form syrups. If sugars

are heated so that all water of crystallisation is driven off, then caramelisation starts with the sugar undergoing thermal decomposition with the formation of carbon and other breakdown products producing caramel. Cooking Techniques Cooking techniques provide flavour, colour, and texture to foods, and it is critical for food product developers to understand the basic cooking techniques to duplicate a chef ‘s signature dish on a commercial basis.

Some major hot cooking techniques are: • Baking • Baking Blind • Broiling • FlashBake • Boiling • Blanching • Braising • Coddling • Double steaming • Infusion • Poaching • Pressure cooking • Simmering • Steaming • Steeping • Stewing • Vacuum flask cooking • Frying • Deep frying • Hot salt frying • Hot sand frying • Pan frying • Pressure frying • Sauteing • Stir frying • Microwaving • Roasting • Barbecuing • Grilling • Rotisserie • Searing • Smoking Some major cool cooking techniques are • Brining • Drying • Grinding (e.g. sesame seeds to produce tahini), chopping, slicing finely, grating, etc.. • Julienning • Marinating • Mincing • Pickling • Salting • Seasoning • Sprouting

• Sugaring Each cooking technique involves heat, moisture, fat, and time. The techniques differ in how the heat is applied, the amount of caramelisation that takes place, how long the product is cooked, when and how the food is seasoned, and so on. There are many variables to consider, including taste, texture, type of meat (tenderness, muscle tissue), intended application, type of cooking equipment, and the gold standard target. Braising and Stewing These techniques utilise moist heat. They differ in that stewing utilises more liquid than braising. The tougher the meat, the more cooking time needed for a tender end result. The first step for a braised or stewed meat dish is to sear the product with a small amount of fat in a heavy, shallow pan. This caramelisation process produces a complex and rich flavour and a deep colour. The next step is to cook the product in a closed vessel, where the gentle simmering creates steam and a consistent temperature for controlled, slow cooking. If a nice light colour is desired, sweating the mirepoix (mixture of onion, carrot, and celery) by cooking it in a small amount of fat over low heat will add flavour but not colour. By comparison, deeply caramelising the mirepoix adds flavour, colour, and aroma.

Sauteing, Stir-Frying, Pan-Frying, and Deep-Frying These techniques utilise dry heat with fat. They take a relatively short period of time to cook and provide a crispy exterior, a moist texture, and savoury notes. Sauteing and stir-frying use a small amount of oil or fat and high heat for a short time. The result is a well-flavoured, crispy, and juicy product with an intense flavour. Pan-frying and deep-frying are typically used with coated or breaded products and provide multiple layers of textures and flavors. In deep-frying, the product is completely immersed in oil or fat and cooked evenly on all surfaces. In pan-frying, the product is cooked in oil that only reaches halfway up the side of the product, so the product needs to be flipped to cook on both sides evenly. If the product is not completely flat, uneven cooking can result. Adding a little extra oil or fat allows the oil or fat to reach and cook in the crevices of the product, producing an even brown surface. In comparison, sauteing would produce uneven cooking in the crevices.

Grilling, Broiling, and Roasting These techniques involve dry heat without fat; any fat that is used is intended to add flavour, rather than act as a cooking medium. The techniques provide a smoky flavour, wood or charcoal notes, caramelisation, a moist interior, and a savoury profile. The heat source is below the meat in grilling and above the meat in broiling. In roasting, the meat is surrounded by hot, dry air.

Steaming, Poaching, and Cooking En Papillate These techniques involve moist-heat cooking and provide a fresh, aromatic, light, delicate taste and a unique texture and colour. The product is cooked either in a liquid or in the steam produced from a liquid.

Steaming is a healthy, low-fat option that also promotes the natural flavour of the product to shine. Poaching can be done in a small amount of liquid (shallow poach) or in a larger amount (deep poach). In a shallow poach, the juices and liquid used to poach the product usually are made into a sauce and served with the finished product. In a deep poach, the liquid (court bouillon) used is a highly flavoured liquid that is typically not consumed; it infuses a nice balance of flavors into the finished product. En papillote cooking is a blend of shallow poach and steaming. The product (usually fish) is cooked in a disposable package, such as a parchment envelope. A small amount of liquid is added to the package; then the product is seasoned, sealed in the package, cooked at a constant temperature, and served in the package. Since these cooking techniques often can’t be used in commercial production of food products because of the time they require, it is important for food scientists to understand the effects that the techniques have on flavour, colour, and texture, so they can select appropriate ingredients to duplicate them successfully.

Cold Storage

Introduction Keeping perishable products at low temperatures in order to extend storage life. Cold storage vastly retards the processes responsible for the natural deterioration of the quality of such products at higher temperatures. Time and temperature are the key factors that determine how well foods, pharmaceuticals, and many manufactured commodities, such as photographic film, can retain properties similar to those they possess at the time of harvest or manufacture. Food that is placed in cold storage is protected from the degradation that is caused by microorganisms. At 80oF (27oC), bacteria will multiply 3000 times in 12—24 h; at 70°F (21°C), the rate of multiplication is reduced to 15 times; and at 40°F (4°C), it is reduced to 2 times. The lower limit of microbial growth is reached at 14°F (-10°C); microorganisms cannot multiply at or below this temperature. Cold storage through refrigeration or freezing makes it possible to extend both the seasons of harvest and the geographic area in which a product is available. In the past, food products were grown locally and had to be marketed within a short period of time. Modern cold storage technology makes virtually any product available year-round on a global basis Other technologies have been combined with refrigeration to further improve this availability. For example, in controlled-atmosphere storage of apples, controlled temperatures above freezing are maintained in a sealed room where the air is also modified to increase its nitrogen content (20.9% oxygen, 0.03% carbon dioxide, and 78.1% nitrogen with other gases) to keep apples orchard-fresh from one fall harvest through the next The cold storage food chain begins at the farm or packing plant where the product is chilled by three principal methods: hydrocooling (immersion in chilled water), forced-air cooling, and vacuum cooling (placing the product in a sealed chamber and creating a vacuum, causing evaporation of some of the water in the product, and subsequent cooling). If the product is to be frozen, one of five methods is used: (1) air blast freezing (cold air at high velocity is passed over the product); (2) contact freezing (the product is placed in contact with metal plates and heat is drawn off by conduction); (3) immersion freezing (the product is immersed in low-temperature brine); (4) cryogenic freezing [the product is exposed in a chamber to temperatures below -76°F (-60°C) by using liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide]; and (5) liquid refrigerant freezing (the product is immersed and sprayed with a liquid freezant at atmospheric pressure). The next step in the cold storage food chain is transport by railroad cars, trucks, airplanes, or boats fitted with refrigeration units that maintain temperatures to critical specifications. Electronic technology permits monitoring of temperature and location by satellite transmission from the transport vehicle to a land-based monitoring station. Refrigerated warehouses and distribution centers maintain the temperatures required to assure continued maintenance of quality before the product makes its last commercial move to supermarkets or to

food-service-industry outlets. Typically, a refrigerated warehouse is a fully insulated structure fitted with refrigeration equipment capable of precise maintenance of specific temperatures in rooms holding up to several million pounds of product. For example, individual rooms may be set to maintain refrigerated storage temperatures of 34°F (1°C) or freezer-room temperatures of 0°F (-18°C). Some food products are being marketed that may require storage temperatures as low as -20°F (-29°C) to maintain texture and to preclude separation of ingredients. Anhydrous ammonia is the principal refrigerant used in refrigeration systems for cold storage. A number of systems had been introduced that used chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants However, they are being phased out because of concern about the ozone layer. It is anticipated that such systems will be converted to ammonia or other refrigerants. Most engine rooms are computer-controlled in order to allow optimum use of energy and to transmit alerts if temperatures stray out of the programmed range. Handling of foods through distribution and cold storage is done by using pallets loaded with 14003000 Ib (630-1350 kg) of product. Modern freezer rooms are 28-32 ft (8.5-10 m) high for conventional forklift operation, and up to 60 ft (18 m) high when automated or specialized materials-handling equipment is used

Spice and Flavoring

Introduction Ingredients added to food to provide all or a part of the flavor. Spices, a unique category of flavorings which are given preferred legal status because of the long history of their use in foods, are pungent or aromatic substances of vegetable origin used in foods at levels that yield no significant nutritive value.

Flavor is the perception of those characteristics of a substance taken orally that affect the senses of taste and olfaction. The term flavoring refers to a substance which may be a single chemical species or a blend of natural or synthetic chemicals whose primary purpose is to provide all or part of the particular flavor effect to any food or other product taken orally. Flavorings are categorized by source: animal, vegetable, mineral, and synthetic.

Chemical Nature of Flavor The sensation of flavor has a chemical basis that involves both taste and smell. Taste The elements of taste consist of sourness, caused by hydrogen ions found in organic and inorganic acids; sweetness, caused by organic chemicals containing hydroxyl, carbonyl and arnino groups, for example glycerol, sugars, amino acids, saccharin, hexamic acid salts; saltiness, a characteristic of sodium chloride, but also exhibited by other inorganic salts; and bitterness, which is caused by inorganic salts and some relatively high-molecular-weight organic compounds, such as alkaloids, for example, quinine, tannins, and sucrose octacetate. The taste-producing substances are usually nonvolatile. Sensations of pain, heat, and coolness are also caused by chemicals. Several fatty acid amides of vanillylamine are responsible for the heat or bite in red peppers, while another amide, piperine, and its relatives provide the pungency of black pepper. Menthol produces a coolness at low concentrations in the mouth. The astringency that is produced by alum is also produced by tannins from tea and other botanicals. Smell The smell (odor) of a food is judged by the nose as volatile components of the food enter either through the nostrils or through the mouth. The chemical constituents which cause the odor component of flavor therefore are volatile. No simple characterization of basic odors has yet been found such as is available for tastes. Attempts to reduce the thousands of complex identifiable odors to a simple classification have been made, but have not been widely accepted Types of Flavors The application of the physical processes of distillation and extraction developed during the Middle Ages led to a wide range of essential oils, extracts, and oleoresins. Research involving the chemistry of natural products in the second half of the nineteenth century provided a nucleus of chemicals for use as flavoring ingredients. The reactions studied at that time (Knoevenagel condensation, Knorr pyrrole synthesis, Perkins reactions and rearrangements, Kolbe-Schmitt reaction) produce the characterizing ingredients of many spices and fruits. Spices contain the largest concentration of flavor volatiles and were the first to be studied. This early work confirmed the presence of, and the structure of, vanillin in vanilla beans at 2% concentration, eugenol in clove buds at 12%, and cinnamic aldehyde in cinnamon at 1-2% concentration. The first half of the twentieth century brought a continuous effort to identify the flavorful volatiles in food by classical organic chemical methods. The many ingredients in citrus peel oils and noncitrus fruits began to yield their flavor secrets. Creative flavorists utilized this knowledge and filled in the gaps with

information supplied by their noses and their palates. Reasonably representative flavors of the fruits became possible to produce. These fruits contained volatiles which effected their flavor at concentrations of 0.01-0.1% (100-1000 ppm). The second half of the twentieth century, especially since the application of gas-liquid chromatography, has seen an explosion of information concerning the identity of the volatile components of all flavorful foods. The sensitivity of equipment for detecting ingredients and the speed with which equipment can identify these ingredients has confirmed the complex nature of flavor. Many of the volatiles in the less highly flavored foods have been examined, isolated, and identified. As many as several hundred volatile organic chemicals have been identified in common flavorful foods. These components range from simple hydrocarbons to complex chemicals with sulfur or nitrogen. While many of these chemicals are not present in sufficient quantities to affect the flavor and some key ingredients have not yet been identified, flavorists have used this information in attempts to prepare artificial flavors. A so-called nature-identical chemical is self-defining. If the flavor of foods were due to stable chemicals, flavors could be made from natural-identical chemicals alone. But the natural flavors of strawberries, grilled hamburger, or roast beef are not stable. Research involving development of synthetic shelf-stable flavors continues. Classification There are several ways of dividing flavorings into subgroups other than source They can be divided into two groups; one group affects primarily the sense of taste, and the other affects primarily the sense of olfaction. The members of the first group are called seasonings, the members of the second group are called flavors. The same terms can be used to divide flavorings in another way. The term flavors can be applied to those products which provide a characterizing flavor to a food or beverage. The term seasoning can then be applied to those products which modify or enhance the flavor of a food or beverage -spices added to meats, blends added to potato chips, lemon added to apple pie. Flavorings can also be classified by their physical form, as solids, liquids, or pastes. The form will be determined by the nature of the flavoring, and the form of food to be flavored. In the United States most flavorings are processed/ since undried herbs and fresh fruits for desired flavor effects are available only on a small scale. Therefore another classification is by method of manufacture. There is general agreement on the several commercial designations of flavorings, indicating the method of manufacture of each and the type of flavors which are available by using ingredients from each category. Chemicals These are produced by chemical synthesis or physical isolation and include such substances as vanillin, salt, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, and menthol Artificial or natural, they are only occasionally used alone, and usually are compounded or blended with other ingredients or diluted to achieve a specific flavor character at a workable concentration Concentrates Powders are manufactured by dehydrating vegetables, such as onions and garlic, or concentrated trait juices. These expensive natural products are available only in limited quantities, Condiments These are single ingredients or blends of flavorful (sometimes exotic) foods, spices, and seasonings, some of which may have been derived by fermentation, enzyme action, roasting, or heating. They are usually designed to be added to prepared food at the table (for example, chutney, vinegar, soy sauce, prepared mustard). Some are completely natural, while others are a blend of natural and synthetic ingredients. Spices These are natural substances that have been dehydrated and consist of whole or ground aromatic and pungent parts of plants, for example, anise, cinnamon, dill, nutmeg, and pepper. Such spices are also classified as herbs if grown in temperate climates. Extracts These are natural substances produced by extraction from solutions of the sapid constituents of spices and other botanicals in food-grade solvents. They are also available as synthetics. Extracts are used in home

food preparation, and industrially by beverage manufacturers. Examples include vanilla, lemon, kola nut, and coffee. Oleoresins These are the natural volatile and nonvolatile flavor constituents of spices and other botanicals produced bv volatile solvent extraction and subsequent removal of the solvent by distillation. They are used industrially in processed meat, canning, and baking industries.

Essential Oils These are the volatile oils obtained from spices and other plant materials which have the characteristic odors of their sources. They are usually obtained by distillation,, although the citrus peel oils are obtained by expression. Essential oils are used in confectionery and beverage industries, and in compounded flavors for many applications.

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Proteins These flavors are produced by optimizing the development of a basic meaty flavor through hydrolysis of various vegetable proteins. They are used in soup formulations and in compounding flavors and seasonings.

Process Flavors These flavors are natural or artificial products of roasting, heating, fermentation, or enzymolysis of foods or normal food ingredients. Compounded or Blended Flavorings These are a group of substances produced by mixing.

Seasonings Available in dry or liquid form, these are natural or artificial flavorings produced by the blending of various categories of flavoring agents with flavortul foods and flavoring adjuncts, for example, free-flow agents and antioxidants. They are suitable for altering the flavor of foods to which they are added, with the emphasis on the taste of the food; for example, barbecue seasoning for potato chips or chili seasoning for beans.

Flavors These are natural or artificial flavorings produced by the compounding of various categories of flavoring ingredients and flavoring adjuncts (for example, solvents, antioxidants, and preservatives) suitable for imparting, modifying, or augmenting the flavor of foods to which they are added, with the emphasis on smell (odor, aroma), for example, artificial strawberry flavor for a gelatin dessert, natural orange flavor for a breaklast drink mix artificial bacon flavor for a flavored dairy dip, or artificial meat flavor for a hamburger extender. Further processing before or after compounding can provide these flavors in dry or liquid form. They may be water- or oil-soluble, and are usually designed to be suitable for specific food products and processes. Regulations Perhaps because spices were at one time used to mask deterioration of foods, and perhaps because other flavorings were at one time used to hide economic adulterations, a complex, not always logical, series of laws and regulations has been enacted in the United States and most other developed countries to prevent the use of flavorings in a deceptive manner. The basis of the laws and regulations varies from country to country, causing problems in international trade. The Codex Aliment a rius represents an effort to standardize the composition and identification of many major foods and food ingredients. It is jointly sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) with support from other groups such as the International Organization of Flavor Industries (IOFI). Laws and definitions differ widely from country to country. In the United States the addition of spices and natural and artificial flavors to food (including beverages and chewing gum) is permitted by law and governed by regulations. These regulations are included in the Code of Federal Regulations. Natural flavors are those which contain only natural flavoring ingredients; artificial flavors are those which contain at least some artificial flavoring ingredients. Natural flavoring ingredients include essential oils, oleoresins, essences or extractives, protein hydrolysates, distillates or any products of roasting, heating or enzymolysis which contain the flavoring constituents derived from spices, fruits, or fruit juices, vegetables or vegetable juices, edible yeast, herbs, barks, buds, roots, leaves or similar plant materials, meats, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products whose significant function is flavoring rather than nutritive. An artificial flavor is any substance whose function is to impart flavor which is not derived as a defined

natural flavor ingredient. In addition, any flavor ingredient-natural or artificial—must either be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) or covered by a regulation of the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Fat and Oil (Food)

Introduction It is one of the three major classes of basic food substances, the others being protein and carbohydrate. Fats and oils are a source of energy, They also aid in making both natural and prepared foods more palatable by improving the texture and providing a more desirable flavor,

Fats and oils are esters of glycerol and fatty acids. They contain small amounts of other fat-soluble compounds—some common to smll fats and others depending on the natural source. Fats and oils are soluble in organic solvents such as petroleum hydrocarbons, other, and chloroform, but are insoluble in water. By definition, fats are more or less solid at room temperature, whereas oils are liquid. Some tropical oils, such as coconut oil, are solid at normal room temperature, but are liquid in their natural habitat. Fats are grouped according to source. Animal tats are rendered form fatty tissues of hogs, cattle, sheep, and poultry. Butter is obtained from milk. Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from various plant seeds, primarily from soybean, cottonseed, corn (germ), peanut, sunflower, safflower, olive, rapeseed, sesame, coconut, oil palm (pulp and kernel separately), and cocoa beans, Marine oils are not consumed in the United States, but commonly are elsewhere. They are obtained mostly from herring, sardine, and pilchard.

Nutritive Value Fats and oils are important in the diet. They are the most concentrated form of food energy, contributing about 9 cal/g (38 joules/g), as compared to about 4 cal/g (17 joules/g) for carbohydrates and proteins. Fats make a meal more satisfying by creating a feeling of fullness, and also delay the onset of hunger. Contrary to popular belief, fats are highly digestible, with 94-98% of the ingested fat being absorbed from the intestinal tract. The polyunsaturated fatty acids, primarily linoleic and arachidonic, are essential nutrients; that is, they are not synthesized by the body but are required for tissue development. Absence of these fatty acids from the diet results in an essential fatty acid syndrome and in a specific form of eczema in infants. Vegetable oils are an excellent source of linoleic acid, while meat fats provide arachidonic acid in small but significant amounts. Fats and oils are carriers of the oil-soluble vitamins A and D, and are the main source of vitamin E. They also have a sparing action on some of the B complex vitamins.

Chemical Constitution Fats and oils, also called triglycerides, are esters of the trihydric alcohol glycerol, C3H5(OH)3, and various fatty acids. Most naturally occurring fatty acids are straight carbon chains with a terminal carboxyl group and 4-24 carbon atoms in even numbers. A few acids have an odd number of carbons and some have

a cyclic group or branched chain, but all of these are relatively rare. Triglyceride structure is usually represented as shown in structure (1), where R, R’, and R” represent carbon chains of the fatty acids. H | H — C — OOCR | H — C—OOCR’ | H — C—OOCR” (1) | H The fatty acid may be saturated or unsaturated. In a saturated acid, such as palmitic acid, all bonds between carbon atoms are single bonds, with hydrogen atoms attached to all the carbon atoms, except that of the carboxyl radical. In an unsaturated acid, each of two adjacent carbons lacks one hydrogen, so that the carbon bonds link together to form a double bond. Oleic acid, with one double bond, is a monounsaturated acid. Linoleic, linolenic, and arachidonic acids are polyunsaturated, having two, three, and four double bonds, respectively. Unsaturated acids can be converted to saturated acids by the addition of hydrogen. Chain length is also important. The most common saturated fatty acids in edible fats and oils are palmitic (16 carbons), stearic (18), and lauric (12). The important unsaturated acids have 18 carbons, except for arachidonic with 20, The physical characteristics of fat depend on the distribution of fatty acids on the various triglyceride molecules. The distribution is complex and nonrandom, Lard, for example, has palmitic acid almost exclusively on the second or middle carbon atom of glycerine. Vegetable oils have unsaturated fatty acids in this position, with saturates exclusively on the end carbons of glycerine, Cocoa butter consist almost exclusively of 2-oleo-palmitostearin and 2-oleodistearin. Most fats contain 0.5-2% nonglyceride components which are classified as unsaponiflables, including squalene, carotenoids, tocopherols, and sterols. Tocopherols, also known as vitamin F, have antioxidant activity. Cholesterol is a sterol found only in animal fats. Plant sterols are chemically related to cholesterol, but are physiologically inactive in humans, except that they may competively inhibit absorption of cholesterol.

Production Methods Processing of fats and oils is carried out in a series of individual steps: extraction, refining, bleaching, and deodorization. Additional processes for specific products include winterization, hydrogenation, and texturizing Typically there are many variations in both equipment and technique for each process The selection of equipment also depends on the oilseed or fatty tissue to be processed. Fats and oils are contained in seed or animal tissues within proteinaceous cell walls. The proteins are co- agulated, usually through the use of heat, to release the oils. Animal tissues need no prior preparation other than cutting or comminuting them. Oilseeds are prepared in a variety of ways before oil can be removed: cottonseed must be dehulled; soybeans may or may not be dehulled; sunflower seeds are rarely

dehulled; coconuts, palm kernels, and peanuts must have their shells removed; corn germ must be separated from the kernel before its oil can be removed.

Fat Rendering Beef fat or tallow is usually dry-rendered under vacuum. The cracklings are then strained from the bulk of the fat and pressed to remove more tallow. Prime steam lard is wet-rendered by heating hog fat under 40-60 lb/in.2 (276-414 kilopascals) pressure by using steam injection into the vessel. After cooking for 4-6 h, the mixture is allowed to settle. The separated lard is then drawn off. In low-temperature rendering, comminuted fatty tissues are heated to 115-120°F (46-49°C) to melt the fat, which is separated by centrifugation. The tissue residues may be used in edible meat products, such as sausage.

Oil Extraction Oil is removed from oilseeds by pressing, solvent extraction, or a combination of both. First, however, the seeds must be crushed or flaked and cooked to denature the proteins. The moisture content must also be adjusted to an optimum level for the particular seed and extraction method. Some mills use high-pressure presses which also develop high-temperatures in the oil and cause some degradation. Extraction with hexane, the most commonly used solvent, gives the best-quality oil, but is not practical for

all oilseeds. Prepressing seeds at low pressure (and consequently low temperature) and removing the balance of the oil with solvent is frequently the best compromise.

Oil Refining Crude oils received from the mill must be refined for use. The first step in the process is called refining; the term “fully refined” refers to an oil which has been refined, bleached, and deodorized Refining as such is carried out by mixing the crude oil with a water solution of sodium hydroxide at about 150°F (66°C). The alkali reacts with the free fatty acids to form soap, which is insoluble in oil. Mucilaginous gums, oil soluble in dry form, are hydrated and become insoluble. Other minor components, such as part of the sterols and tocopherols, are also incorporated in the insoluble “soap stock.” The entire mass is pumped through a continuous centrifuge to remove the oil-insoluble matter. The oil is then water-washed, recentrifuged, and dried under vacuum. Some vegetable oils, especially soybean oil, may first be degummed by using water to hydrate the gums, The crude gums which separate from the oil are dried to yield crude lecithin, which is useful as an emulsifier. The degummed oil is then alkali-refined as before. Animal fats and water- or phosphoric acid-degummed vegetable oils may be steam-refined, stripping free fatty acids, monoglycerides, unsaponifiable waxes, and some pigments. During this process, the oil is held under high vacuum (4-6 torr or 0.5-0.8 kPa) and high temperature (about 450°F or 230°C),

Bleaching Bleaching, the process for removing pigments from fats and oils, is usually carried out by adding about 1 % bleaching clay to oil under vacuum at about 225°F (107°C), agitating, and then filtering to remove the clay. High temperature drives moisture from the clay so that it will adsorb the pigments, Neutral clay removes most pigments, but acid-activated earth also removes chlorophyll Carotene, found in palm oil and tallow, is not removed by adsorption but can be decolorized by heat bleaching during deodorization. Some pigments are fixed in the oil, and cannot be removed.

Deodorization Deodorization is used to remove volatile materials from the oil product. Along with removal of compounds which contribute flavor and odor, free fatty acids, monoglycerides, and some color bodies are distilled off. Peroxides and carotenes are decomposed. The resulting product is bland in flavor and odor. The process is carried out by blowing steam through the oil held at 400-500°F (200-260°C) and a vacuum of 5-6 torr (0.7-0.8 kPa).

Fractional Crystallization Fractional crystallization of fats is the separation of the solidified fat into hard fractions (stearine) and soft fractions (oil). It is carried out by allowing the fat to crystallize at a preselected temperature and filtering or pressing the mass to separate the oil from the stearine. The process is used for preparing highstability liquid frying oils from partially hydrogenated soybean oil and from palm oil. Hard butters are made by fractionating hydrogenated oils or naturally hard fats from solvent to isolate the disaturated, monounsaturated triglycerides, which resemble cocoa butter in melting characteristics.

Winterization Winterization is a specialized form of fractional crystallization of fats. Natural cottonseed oil and partially hydrogenated soybean oil contain solid fats at low to moderate room temperature. This makes these oils undesirable in appearance, especially when refrigerated, and useless for mayonnaise, where the fat crystals would break the emulsion. Winterization is achieved by holding the oil at 40°F (4°C) for 2-4 days to crystallize the solid fats, which are removed by filtration. Crystal inhibitors, primarily oxystearin and polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, may be added to the clear oil to retard further crystallization of fats, which are rarely completely removed by Winterization. Some oils, particularly from sunflower and corn, have a high level of wax, which causes a cloudy appearance. These oils are dewaxed in a process resembling Winterization.

Hydrogenation Hydrogenation is the chemical binding of hydrogen to the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids. Glyceride molecules with two or more unsaturated acids are liquids at room temperature. Saturating one or more of these acids makes the glyceride more solid and also more stable against oxidation. The hydrogenation process calls for vigorous agitation of a mixture of oil, finely divided nickel metal catalyst (0.025-0.3%), and hydrogen gas at high temperature (usually 250-400°F or 120-200°C) and gas pressure ranging from atmospheric (14.7 lb/in.2 or 101 kPa) to 60 lb/in,2 (414 kPa). The end point is measured by the

refractive index, which correlates with the iodine value, and is predetermined by experience to give the desired hardness of product. Characteristics of the hardened oil depend on process temperature, type and amount of catalyst, purity and pressure of hydrogen, and other similar variables. The fat is rebleached and filtered to remove the catalyst as a final step.

Interesterification Interesterification is used to rearrange a nonrandom mixture of fatty acids on various triglyceride molecules into a randomized distribution. It is used mainly to change lard from a coarse crystalline fat to a smooth, textured shortening which will cream in bakery products, and to convert a mixture of fully hydrogenated coconut or palm oils and fully hydrogenated cottonseed or other nonlauric oils to hard butters for confectionery use. Interesterification involves heating the fatty starting material with a catalyst, usually sodium metal or sodium methoxide, at 95-135°F (35-57°C) for 0.5-1 h, killing the catalyst with water, and removing the resulting soaps. Texturizing Texturizing of shortening compounds, usually a blend of partially hydrogenated oils or interesterified lard and 8-12% fully hydrogenated cottonseed or palm oils, is carried, out by rapid cooling in a scrapedsurface internal-chilling machine and whipping the cold, partially crystallized fat with air or nitrogen. The shortening is filled into containers to harden on standing. The process is analogous to the freezing of ice cream. Chemical Adjuncts A number of additives are used to modify the performance characteristics of edible oils and shortenings. Emulsifiers are the largest and most varied group of additives. Monoglycerides are the basic emulsifiers for incorporation of air into cakes and icings and for retarding staling in yeast-raised doughs. These attributes are enhanced by the addition of lactylated or ethoxylated monoglycerides, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, propylene glycol monostearate, and polysorbates. Lecithin, a very potent emulsifier, is useful as an antisticking and anti- spattering agent in grill frying oils and margarine and as a texture modifier in chocolate and confectionery coatings.

Acetylated monoglycerides have some emulsifying properties, but are more useful as stable oils or waxes for coating meat products, cheese, nuts, raisins, cereals, and so forth to retard moisture transfer during storage. Antioxidants are used to retard oxidative rancidity in fats and oils. Tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and propyl gallate are the most widely used antioxidants. Citric acid is used as a trace-metal scavenger to inactivate the prooxidant effect of heavy metals, primarily iron and copper. Citric acid is added without exception to all oils in the final stages of deodorization. Methyl silicones are added to some fats used in deep fat frying as an antifoam agent. Margarine, popcorn oil, pan frying oils, and some shortenings may be colored yellow through the addition of carotene or annatto pigments. Buttery flavors are also added to margarine and popcorn oil to enhance their appeal. Testing Procedures Crude oils are purchased according to rigid specifications which include free fatty acid, refining loss, bleached color, and peroxide value. Free fatty acid is found by titrating the oil with standard alkali. Refining loss is done either by cup refining, a laboratory simulation of plant refining, or by adsorption of impurities from the oil by using powdered aluminum oxide. Refined oil is bleached with day in the laboratory for determination of color by visual comparison with a series of color standards. The most common standards are Lovibond glasses in graduated steps of yellow and red. Peroxide value, a measure of the extent of oxidative deterioration of the oil, is determined by iodine titration, in which the peroxide equivalent is found in terms of elemental iodine liberated from potassium iodide. Other evaluations of crude oil include moisture, insoluble impurities (meal or crackling residues), and volatiles such as residual solvents.

Finished salad oils must pass a cold test: the length of time the oil takes to show the first trace of fat crystals in an ice bath. The standard test requires the oil to be dear after 5.5 h. Iodine value, the amount of iodine reacting with the oil, determines the total unsaturation. Iodine values are calculated from the fatty acid composition of the oil as determined by gas-liquid chromatography Naturally hard fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils are actually mixtures of solid and liquid triglycerides. The solid fat index (SFI) is a measure of the solid glyceride levels at various temperatures below the melting point of the fat. It is a valuable tool for determining the potential firmness of a plasticized shortening or margarine. The consistency of these products is evaluated after plasticizing by observing package penetration. A standardized needle or other pointed object is allowed to penetrate the product for several seconds. The depth of penetration must fall within predetermined limits for the material involved. Hardness is also given in terms of melting point. Fats do not have a sharp melting point, so that several empirical methods have been developed, each giving slightly different values from the others.

Potential stability of fats toward oxidation is usually determined by an accelerated test known as the active oxygen method (AOM), in which stability is measured by bubbling air through the sample at a specified temperature, usually 208oF (98oC), and determining the length of time the fat takes to reach a peroide value of 100. Smoke point, the temperature at which a fat gives off a steady stream of smoke, is determined for frying fats Monoglyceride content is an important evaluation for bakery shortenings. Finished oils are also evaluated for peroxide value, free fatty acid content, moisture, color, and flavor. Many other tests exist to give special information where needed, but are not in general use Deterioration Factors Several forms of deterioration may occur in fats and oils.

Flavor Reversion Flavor and odor may develop after deodorization of a product to complete blandness. The flavor is generally characteristic of the oil source and is therefore usually acceptable. However, soybean oil can develop disagreeable flavors described as beany, grassy, painty, fishy, or like watermelon rind. Beef fat can become tallowy, which is also objectionable. Reversion is apparently caused by changes in substances which have been oxidized prior to, but not removed by, deodorization. Ordinary chemical tests do not indicate any change in the oil. It is strictly an organoleptic observation, although work using gas chromatography has demonstrated that a large number of volatile compounds form during development of reverted flavor. Those compounds which have been identified indicate that reversion is related to oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids.

Oxidative Rancidity This is a serious flavor defect and highly objectionable. It starts with the formation of hydroperoxides at the double bond of fatty acids, primarily linolenic and linoleic, which then decompose to form aldehydes which have a pungent, disagreeable flavor and odor. Oxidative rancidity is detectable chemically by peroxide value and by one of several tests for aldehydes. Peroxides and aldehydes in crude oils are removed by deodorization. They are reformed in finished oils by further oxidation, which is catalyzed by exposure of the oil to light, to some metals, especially copper and iron, and to excessive heat. Retardation of oxidation is brought about by using opaque, airtight containers, or nitrogen blanketing if clear glass bottles are used. Antioxidants, which retard oxidation by interrupting the reaction of oxygen radicals, are required in meat fats, since lard, tallow, and so on contain no natural antioxidant material. Vegetable oils contain tocopherols. Additional antioxidant, with the exception of TBHQ, has little benefit for these oils. Copper metal and copper-bearing alloys are extremely active prooxidants, and must never be used in oilhandling or oil-processing equipment. Iron rust is a prooxidant, but recently cleaned iron, coated with oil to prevent rusting, is inert, and is commonly used for oil-processing and oil-storage equipment Hydrolytic Rancidity This type of rancidity results from the liberation of free fatty acids by the reaction of fats and oils with water. While most fats show no detectable off flavors, coconut and other lauric acid oils develop a soapy flavor, and butter develops the strong characteristic odor of butyric acid. In some foods, active lipase from materials such as raw nuts or low-temperature-pasteurized milk or from contaminating microorganisms catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats and oils. Packaged coconut-oil products and lauric-type hard butters sometimes contain added lecithin, which acts as a moisture scavenger, thereby retarding hydrolytic rancidity development. Frying Fat Breakdown Fats and oils used m deep fat frying can break down under adverse conditions, especially where frying is intermittent or the fryer capacity is not fully used. This results in a low fat turnover rate, that is, an insufficient percentage of fresh fat being added to the fry kettle at regular intervals. The breakdown is detected first by an increase in acidity, measured by free fatty acid determination but actually caused by development of acidic breakdown products Further deterioration results in the oil becoming very dark in color, viscous, foul-odored, and foaming badly during frying. It becomes oxidized and then polymerized, requiring that it be discarded, since it imparts strong off flavors to the fried food. Crystal Transformation Crystal structure transformation of packaged shortening results in formation of a grainy, soft product, which may also lose incorporated gas and take on the appearance of petroleum jelly. In extreme cases, liquid oil pockets form in the shortening mass. In addition, there is a loss of creaming ability in baking of cakes and icing preparation. Crystal transformation is caused by improper hydrogenation, poor formulation, unstable hard fat used for texturizing, or the wrong chilling conditions. Unfortunately, such transformation takes several days after filling the shortening before it becomes obvious. Similar changes in crystal structure can cause bloom in chocolate coatings, a defect which gives a white haze or even open grain on an originally smooth, glossy surface. Chocolate bloom can be inhibited by the addition of lecithin or polysorbates or both.