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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #255385
Title: Development and commercialization of emerging infrared radiation food processing technologies

Author
item Pan, Zhongli
item ATUNGULU, GRIFFITHS - University Of California
item Bingol, Gokhan
item McHugh, Tara
item YANG, JIHONG - University Of California

Submitted to: Proceedings for CIGR World Congress Meetings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2009
Publication Date: 6/13/2010
Citation: Pan, Z., Atungulu, G.G., Bingol, G., Mc Hugh, T.H., Yang, J. 2010. Development and commercialization of emerging infrared radiation food processing technologies. Proceedings for CIGR World Congress Meetings.

Interpretive Summary: The manuscript reports the development and commercialization of emerging infrared radiation food processing technologies. Various vegetables were blanched and dried with a newly developed IR blancher/dryer. The results showed that IR should be an effective processing method for blanching and drying.

Technical Abstract: In order to demonstrate a newly developed simultaneous infrared dry-blanching and dehydration (SIRDBD) technology on an industrial scale, a mobile and continuous IR heating system was built and tested to examine its performance for SIRDBD of sliced and diced potatoes. The mobile IR heating equipment had an effective total heating area of 5×15 feet. The IR heating from both top and bottom was provided by catalytic IR emitters using natural gas as energy source. During processing, the products were conveyed using a belt and the total residence time in the IR equipment varied from 224 to 544 s. The result showed that inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was achieved when the belt speed was 3.175 ft/min with corresponding residence time of 283 s for 2.89 mm thick potato slices. To achieve full blanching of thicker slices of 6.42 and 9.03 mm, the belt speeds were 2.43 ft/min and 2.739 ft/min, respectively, corresponding to 370 and 328 s residence time. The fully blanched product can also be achieved by using high heat in the early stage with reduced heating time. Using high heat in the very first stages to heat the slices to inactivation temperatures was essential for obtaining high quality blanched product and for less energy consumption. Moisture loss during blanching could be replenished to a certain extent by dipping blanched products in water. The results showed that SIDBD could be an effective and efficient method for processing fruits and vegetables.