Multicomponent Systems in Food Technology

Almost all reactions taking place in foodstuffs, such as quality loss due to the loss of vitamins, enzymes, or color (chlorophyll) to the death of living cells or microbial spores or to other chemical reactions, follow formal first-order kinetics. Reactions associated with browning are often described by zero-order kinetic reactions (Saguy and Karel, 1980). 

the technical handling problems can schematically be described with the aid of Fig. 5.81, where a series of components exhibit different k values. As indication for sterility in food technology, the heat-resistant enzyme per- 

To obtain sterile foodstuffs that can be stored for long periods of time, cells, spores, and enzymes must be destroyed while at the same time vitamine content, color, and aroma are not substantially affected. This is possible using kinetic data and a reactor with an average processing time F = tst Since a first-order reaction is involved, the optimal reactor configuration is a continuous tube reactor (Moser, Kosaric, and Margaritis, 1980b). 

Humphrey, A.E., and Millis, N.F. (1973). Biochemical Engineering. New York Academic Press. 

(1969a). AIChEJ, Amer. Inst. Chem. Eng. Journal, 15, 624. 

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