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Issue 2 2011 / 13 May 2011 / Fred van de Velde, Group Leader Ingredient Technology, and Arno Alting, Project Manager Applied Protein Technology, and Laurice Pouvreau, Project Manager Vegetable – Derived Ingredients, NIZO Protein Centre, NIZO food research
Due to an ever-growing population, proteins extracted from existing agricultural side-streams are of high interest for food processors. RuBisCO, being the most abundant protein in the world, is a very good candidate for food applications. However, up to now, the greenish colour associated with RuBisCO preparations made consumer acceptance very difficult. NIZO food research has developed a simple and up-scalable extraction process for RuBisCO yielding to a colourless protein isolate with a high percentage of undenatured protein (Figure 1). Moreover, the protein isolate displays promising techno-functional properties, such as a high foam volume and stability and a heat-induced gelation at low protein content (two per cent w/w). (more…)
Issue 2 2011 / 13 May 2011 / Fred van de Velde & H. Jan Klok, NIZO Protein Centre, NIZO food research and Tristan Laundon & E. Allen Foegeding, North Carolina State University, Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences
Foods are eaten not only for their nutritional value but also for the pleasure of eating. Food producers reformulate their products to comply with consumer trends on fat, salt and sugar reduction as well as to reduce the number of additives. The number one goal is to maintain consumer acceptance. Understanding the role and interactions of ingredients in the texture and stability of foods is of key importance to develop improved food products. This article describes the role of microstructure in understanding the ingredient functionality in food products.
Composite food products are complex products composed of a wide range of ingredients. The three main ingredients (also called macronutrients) are proteins, carbohydrates and fats/oils. The type or origin of the ingredients, their concentrations and the applied processing determines the final product properties and sensory profile. For example, milk can be transformed into different products such as yoghurt, cheese, butter and desserts just by changing processing and ingredients. (more…)
Industry news, News / 30 March 2011 / NIZO Food Research
In a 4 year EU consortium, NIZO food research will screen and identify yeast species with novel industrial traits. The consortium aims at developing food products for the food industry such as alcoholic beverages and cheeses, both in terms of new flavours and health promoting properties.
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Industry news, News / 1 July 2010 / NIZO
Translation of the physics of interfaces in food systems to mouth feel, shelf life and flow properties in food products is essential for developing better and healthier foods. The appointment of NIZO expert Hans Tromp as associate professor Colloid Chemistry at the University of Utrecht strengthens the transfer from fundamental knowledge to solutions for the food industry. Tromp will focus on water-water interfaces, particularly relevant for the development of low calorie foods.
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Issue 4 2009 / 1 June 2010 / Dr Peter de Jong, Arjan van Asselt, Dr Martijn Fox & Dr Coen Akkerman, NIZO Food Research
In the food industry, it is possible to use new breakthrough technologies to create a more sustainable production process combined with a substantial decrease of production costs. However, the development of these technologies requires a significant investment of time and money. The latter, in particular, is difficult to secure these days. Fortunately, there are some relatively simple measures available to decrease production costs by five to 10 per cent within a single year. Five are presented in this article. In order to obtain a maximised effect it is important to apply all five to achieve optimal production efficiency.
NIZO food research has years of experience in the optimisation of processes both within and beyond the food industry. This pertains not so much to the optimisation of logistics and the use of equipment but rather to the production method used to produce the food. Experience showed that in almost any case, opportunities for substantial improvements that lead to quick wins with regard to costs and sustainability are available. For a production line, the savings can amount to hundreds of thousands of Euros per year. Figure 1 provides an overview of the possible ways in which quick wins can be achieved. These have been applied with success dozens of times during recent years. An explanation of each is provided below. (more…)
Issue 2 2010 / 12 May 2010 / Martijn Fox, Coen Akkerman, Han Straatsma and Peter de Jong, NIZO food research
Most of the powder products available on the market are produced using a spray drying process. Drying processes are known to be the most energy consuming processes used in the food industry. For example, the Dutch dairy industry required 1.4 PJ for drying its whey and milk powder in 2007. Therefore, a reduction of the energy consumption in drying processes will result in large cost savings, a better carbon footprint and a more sustainable production chain.
The energy consumption of drying processes has been slightly reduced by the introduction of new, innovative technologies, like air dehumidification by silica, better designed dryers and an increase in product knowledge. However, drying equipment often has a long lifespan, so improvements using the existing processing line are essential. One way of reducing the energy consumption with existing equipment is to increase the dry matter content of the feed of the spray dryer. Based on the experience of NIZO, a combination of predictive models, product measurements and pilot scale testing is required to reach this goal. (more…)
Issue 1 2009 / 20 February 2009 / Fred van de Velde & Arno Alting, Project Managers Ingredient Technology, NIZO food research
Consumer awareness of additives drives the industry to launch natural and/or clean label products. Products without added flavours and colourings or with only natural flavours and colours are well known in the market. However, further cleaning of the product label is thorough as it focuses on functional additives and texturising ingredients, such as stabilisers, thickeners, emulsifiers and preservatives. Research at NIZO food research demonstrated that proteins are a unique source of clean label ingredients with opportunities to tailor their functionality, not only as texturising ingredients but also as preservatives.
Proteins are widely applied in food products for their nutritional and functional properties. Their physical functionalities include: jellifying, emulsifying, foaming and thickening. The texture of food products can solely be determined by the protein fraction. A few examples are jelly pudding, yoghurt, cheese and processed meat. In many others, E-number bearing ingredients are added to improve their texture, processability and stability, such as emulsifiers and stabilisers in ice cream, thickeners in desserts and fillings, and stabilisers and thickeners in (instant) soups and sauces. These functionalities can also be derived from proteins. Moreover, the potential of proteins as a source of clean label ingredients can be increased by selective tailoring of their functionality by physical, biochemical and enzymatic modification. This publication shows a number of examples in which proteins are used as a source of clean label ingredients. (more…)
Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 18 August 2008 / Maarten Schutyser, Maykel Verschueren, Han Straatsma, Hadiyanto, Coen Akkerman, Peter de Jong, NIZO food research
Drying processes in the food industry often operate at a suboptimal level. The most important reason for this is that to obtain optimal drying, a complex balance must be found among variables such as energy costs, product quality, dryer design and safety. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic approach and concrete solutions. NIZO food research has developed a step-by-step optimisation approach that not only makes use of process and product scans, but simulation techniques such as CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).
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Issue 4 2007 / 16 November 2007 / Dr I.Bodnár, Dr H.Rollema, M.Laats, H.Bernaert, Barry Callebaut, NIZO food research
Chocolate, in its various forms, is the ultimate pleasure food for many customers. New chocolate flavoured products are constantly being developed such as drinks, dairy, ice-cream, and desserts with greater taste and greater convenience.
With its origin in Central America, cocoa was used as a delicacy for centuries before it became known to Europe. One of the famous uses was Xocolatl (meaning bitter water), a drink made out of cocoa beans, herbs and spices. It is where the word “chocolate” is derived from.
In the 16th century cocoa had become very popular in Europe as a drink made with sugar and water. The slow advance in technology, however, limited the growth of the cocoa consumption in comparison to other luxuries, for example, coffee and tea. (more…)
Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 23 May 2007 / M. Verschueren, J. Straatsma, M. Schutyser, C. Akkerman, P. de Jong, NIZO food research, Ede, the Netherlands
Spray drying is an essential unit operation for the manufacture of many products with specific powder properties. It is characterised by atomisation of a solution or suspension into droplets, followed by subsequent drying of these droplets by evaporation of water or other solvents. Spray drying is used for the manufacture of many consumer and industrial products such as instant food products, laundry detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics and agrochemicals. The best known example of an instant food product is milk powder, but instant beverages such as coffee can also be produced by spray drying.
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Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 11 August 2006 / MC te Giffel, NIZO food research, Department of Health & Safety, The Netherlands
Control of production processes in the food industry has always focused on examination of end products. However, feedback of test results to the production process is generally not possible because it takes too long before the results of the analyses are known. Moreover, high numbers of samples have to be analysed to obtain statistically reliable results and inspection of end products only enables defects to be observed; it cannot establish their cause.
Because of this, analysis at the end of the process has shifted to control of the process by the introduction of GMP and HACCP systems. The use of a continuous, preferably in-line, monitoring system is necessary to make sure that the critical points in the process are controlled. This enables rapid detection and correction of slight deviations of process parameters yielding increased productivity and profitability. In addition, large margins that are used e.g. in heat treatments to prevent safety issues, can be minimised to improve quality aspects such as nutritional value and taste.
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Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 9 March 2006 / Peter de Jong and Meike te Giffel, NIZO food research, The Netherlands
In the food industry the operation costs are governed by fouling. Typically, processes applied in the dairy industry that operate below 80°C are limited by adherence and growth of micro-organisms in the equipment. Above 80°C the run time is limited by deposition of proteins and minerals. Besides the limited run time, bio-fouling may have implications for product spoilage.
Adhered spoilage organisms may be released to the product during processing. For example, the adherence and release of bacteria and bacterial spores in a milk pasteuriser may lead to defects such as excessive openness or late-blowing in cheese or taste deviations.
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