Food powders production

This involves the engineering of food powder ingredient particles that can maintain ingredient stability and functionality, that do not present dust formation problems, that do not present difficult handling and transport problems, and can be readily rehydrated to deliver their required functional performance in a wet formulation. The major limitation to this type of approach is the low value of food powders and the low cost driven nature of food powder product that stunts this type of innovation. On the other hand, particle engineering is the key to the higher added value of food powders, e g. by producing products with excellent instant properties. 

Fig. 13. Spray-dryer system designed for production of agglomerated food powders with instant properties (82) A, Hquid-feed system B, spray-dryer chamber C, drying air heater D, cyclones for fines recovery E, vibrofluidizer as afterdryer F, vibrofluidizer as aftercooler and G, fines return to drying...

Andres-Lacueva C, Monagas M, Khan N, Izquierdo-Pulido M, Urpi-Sarda M, Permanyer J and Lamuela-Raventos RM. 2008. Flavanol and flavonol contents of cocoa powder products influence of the manufacturing process. J Agric Food Chem 56(9) 3111—3117. 

Most food powders are not directly consumed by humans and animals, they are usually mixed with water and other liquids to produce wet formulations, which are further processed to produce products that are directly consumed. As a result of being ultimately consumed by humans and animals, prevention of contamination of the powders with microorganisms, viruses and undesirable chemical components is a huge issue for food powder manufacturers and the food industry in general. One major case of food poisoning linked to a contaminated powder can be very detrimental to a producer. 

A further step back from application to powder production is the processes that create the desired powder properties. Thus, another major area of research involves the study of these processes, and investigating how raw material variables and process input variables affect the engineering of the desired powder properties. Finally, as mentioned above, a very important aspect of research for food powders is component stability, all the way from powder production,... 

Helianthus tuberosus fine powder, method for producing the same, //. tuberosus fine powder-added food, and H. tuberosus fine powder product... 

Fig. 7.6. Spray dryer for production of coarse food powders with instant properties [29]. (1) Liquid feed system. (2) Spray dryer chamber. (3) Drying air heater. (4) Cyclones for fines recovery. (5) Vibrofluidizer as after-dryer. (6) Vibrofluidizer as after-cooler. (7) Fines return to drying chamber.

Typical food products that are extruded include sugars and sweets which may be applied on bread and cakes, but also ingredients for soups (herbs) or cereals (fibers, vitamins, etc). Food powders may also be pressed into shapes such as cubes, which may be applied as concentrated bouillons, herbs and taste enhancers for use in soups. Here the ease of dosing and the stability (prevention of oxidation of the flavors) are the reason to make them into cubes. 

Acesulfame potassium is used as an intense sweetening agent in cosmetics, foods, beverage products, table-top sweeteners, vitamin and pharmaceutical preparations, including powder mixes, tablets, and liquid products. It is widely used as a sugar substitute in compounded formulations, and as a toothpaste sweetener. ... 

Larrauri, J. A., et al. (1999). New approaches in the preparation of high dietary fibre powders from food by-products. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 10(1), 3-8. 

Water adsorbed on the surface of pharmaceutical or food powders, even at low levels, has a significant impact on the behavior of such powders during processing, and ultimately on the quality and performance of the final product. Bakri (1993) reported the application of heat conduction microcalorimetry to study the adsorption of water vapor onto solid pharmaceuticals. The high sensitivity of the calorimeter permits detection, even at low humidities, of heat flow as a result of interaction of solvent vapor with the solid. The heat flow (Pj ) can be described by ... 

Compression and compaction parameters such as density, porosity, stress, and strain are introduced. Furthermore, other factors of importance in stress measurement of powder beds in different situations such as compression, tension, shearing, and impact are explained. The fluidity of food powders is a controversial topic in food powder characterization and of top relevance in the food industry. Concepts such as compressibility and other flowability indicators are important for understanding the effects of compression phenomena during storage, production, and handling. Food powder strength concepts such as hardness relate to other concepts like attrition, which are a common occurrence in compaction processes. 

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