Food Rheology and Extrusion Applications

The confectionery industry, which focuses on products made from sugar or sugar substitutes, is diverse, including chocolates, candy bars, jellies, gums, hard and chewy candies, and other sweets. Factors such as flow properties, ingredient interactions, response to deformation, temperature changes, and shelf stability are investigated with rheological characterization. Innovative technologies like co-rotating twin-screw extrusion technology offer the possibility of continuous manufacturing of confectioneries. This method simplifies the process and product development by minimizing the number of production steps, resulting in significant time and lab space savings. It allows precise control over the molecular alterations of proteins, sugars, starches, and fats, ensuring high-quality confectionery products.

The flow behavior of some foods, specifically the viscous behavior of molten chocolate, affects the surface appearance and mouthfeel properties of the final confection. Viscosity and yield stress also play important roles in chocolate manufacturing, affecting transport, filling, dipping, coating, dosing, and storage operations. 

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Breakfast cereals, snacks, and texturized vegetable proteins are common expanded food products that are produced using extrusion technology. The extrusion process serves to impart a unique puffy, crunchy texture into these products with a variety of shapes ranging from balls, rings, to curls, and many more. Depending on the plant source, breakfast cereals and snacks can be made from ingredients such as rice, corn, and potato. Protein-rich ingredients are applied to manufacture texturized vegetable proteins that serve as meat replacers. Even though extrusion is an established production process, new ingredients that are selected to improve the nutritional value, and ecological footprint of these products, require constant adaptation of process parameters to maintain desired texture and mouthfeel.

Consumer acceptance of dairy foods depends on their textural characteristics from usage like spreadability up to sensory perception such as texture and mouthfeel. Adapting to changing market trends, such as plant-based alternatives and lactose-free options, adds complexity. Consequently, to enhance consumer acceptance, both formulation and production processes must be adapted to achieve the desired flow properties, texture, and mouthfeel.

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Flavors and active ingredients are sensitive and expensive additives. Encapsulation serves multiple purposes, such as protecting against oxidation, preventing flavor degradation, and enhancing product handling. Utilizing twin-screw extruders for encapsulating flavors into a matrix provides several benefits, including gentle processing conditions that minimize the risk of product degradation. Additionally, various downstream equipment options allow for the customization of end products into different shapes, such as pelletized powder or chill-rolled flakes.

Plant-based ingredients can be formulated to mimic the texture, taste, appearance, and nutritional value of animal meats. These imitation meat products are rising in popularity at grocery stores for home use and in restaurants everywhere. Twin-screw extrusion enables consistent production of meat analogs to mimic beef, chicken, and seafood.

Plant-based dairy alternatives are increasingly popular for their health, sustainability, and ethical benefits. Therefore, the development of alternative protein formulations and valorization of food side streams are key focuses. Sustainable food must meet consumer expectations for taste and texture. Rheological characterization optimizes mechanical properties and sensory perceptions to meet these expectations and simulate processing conditions. The high flexibility of rheometers, with various application-specific measuring cells for tribology, texture, and interfacial analysis, allows comprehensive product characterization.

Create better starch products by leveraging the unique properties of starch from various plant sources. Understand viscosity, texture, and stability for a wide range of applications. Native starch has a grain-like structure with small crystalline particles. Cooking starch in water breaks this structure, creating a starch solution. The viscosity and texture of this solution or paste, as well as its storage stability, vary based on the starch source and pre-treatment. During cooking, viscosity peaks due to starch crystal swelling and then decreases as crystalline domains break.