Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Approach (from AD-416) Fresh and/or frozen products of specialty crops and fish by-products will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The fish by-products will be processed through various methods to improve the value of the by-products. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full- fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied. Documents SCA with UC Davis. The new infrared dry-peeling technology has been developed for tomato peeling. A pilot scale infrared dry-peeling system is under development. A pilot scale infrared drying and dry-blanching system has been developed and will be used for demonstration of the newly developed infrared drying and dry-blanching technologies. Research results are reported through regular meetings and reports.
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Progress 09/26/05 to 09/25/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Approach (from AD-416) Fresh and/or frozen products of specialty crops and fish by-products will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The fish by-products will be processed through various methods to improve the value of the by-products. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full- fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied. Documents SCA with UC Davis. This is the final report for the project 5325-41000-062-10S terminated in February 2011. Substantial results were obtained over the 5 years of the project. We created new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specialty crops by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies produced the products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. One example is crispy strawberry slices that are produced through sequential infrared heating and freeze-drying. The product can be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Almond pasteurization and roasting methods were also successfully developed by using infrared heating which needed much less processing time and improved food safety compared to current conventional methods. We also developed infrared dry-blanching technology used for apple and other fruits and vegetables. The successful development of the infrared heating technology has led to a demonstration project for commercializing the technologies. The high value antioxidant from pomegranate peel was produced using optimized water extraction which is an environmentally friendly processing method. The collaborators met weekly on site at UC Davis for discussing the experimental plan, analyzing the experimental data and developing research reports.
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Approach (from AD-416) Fresh and/or frozen products of specialty crops and fish by-products will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The fish by-products will be processed through various methods to improve the value of the by-products. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full- fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied. Documents SCA with UC Davis. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations New efficient and effective processes for blanching and dehydrating fruits and vegetables, improving food safety and increasing values of agricultural products are needed to expand markets of the U.S. agricultural and food products. Under this SCA, the researchers in the Processed Foods Research Unit at WRRC, Albany, CA collaborated with the researchers at the University of California, Davis and industry partners through a CRADA and conducted research focusing on the development of new processing technologies. They investigated the blanching and drying characteristics of fruits and vegetables and built a full scale infrared blancher and dehydrator for demonstration of new infrared blanching and dehydration technology for improved product quality and processing, and energy efficiency. To ensure the safety of almonds, a new process using infrared heating has been successfully developed for pasteurization of raw almonds and roasting almonds. When sequential infrared and hot air roasting was used, high quality almonds were produced with improved food safety and reduced processing time. It is a preferred method over the current hot air roasting method. The scale up of the new process is ongoing under a partnership with the Almond Board of California. This research project is overseen by the ADODR who holds regular meetings and writes reports periodically related to research progress and accomplishments.
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Approach (from AD-416) Fresh and/or frozen products of specialty crops and fish by-products will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The fish by-products will be processed through various methods to improve the value of the by-products. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full- fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied. Documents SCA with UC Davis. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations New efficient and effective processes for blanching and dehydrating fruits and vegetables, improving food safety and increasing values of agricultural products are needed to expand markets of the U.S. agricultural and food products. Under this SCA, the researchers in the Processed Foods Research Unit at WRRC, Albany, CA, collaborated with the researchers at the University of California, Davis and industry partners, and conducted research focusing on the development of new processing technologies. They investigated the blanching and drying characteristics of fruits and vegetables, and performed ongoing large-scale demonstrations of a new infrared blanching and dehydration technology for improved product quality and processing, and energy efficiency. Based on the infrared blanching and dehydration technologies, a new process method was developed and the patent has been filed for producing whole fruit frozen bars as healthy snacks. To ensure the safety of almonds, a new process using infrared heating has been successfully developed for pasteurization of raw almonds. It is a preferred method over the current chemical pasteurization method. The scale up of the new process is ongoing at WRRC, Albany, CA. Progress on this collaboration is accounted for through regular meetings, conference calls and reports. These novel processes and products support the objective of NP 306�s Component 2, "New Processes, New Uses, and Value-Added Foods".
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications. Approach (from AD-416) Fresh and/or frozen fruits and vegetables and fresh and frozen fruit and vegetable purees will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full- fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied. Documents SCA with UC Davis. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This report serves to document research conducted under a Specific Cooperative agreement between ARS and the University of California, Davis. Additional details of the research may be found in 5325-41000-060-00D, New Technologies to Process Value-Added, Healthy Foods from Fruits and Vegetables. Infrared heating controlled by intermittent heating mode was found to achieve simultaneous dry-blanching and dehydration of apple slices with desirable quality. In order to better understand the performance of intermittent heating for simultaneous dry-blanching and dehydration (SIDBD), the relationship between process variables and product quality was investigated. The objective of this research was to study the influence of processing parameters of SIDBD with intermittent heating mode on processing characteristics and product quality. An infrared dry- blancher/dehydrator equipped with two catalytic IR emitters powered with natural gas was used. Apple slices were heated from both top and bottom sides with a constant product surface temperature maintained by controlling the on and off time of natural gas supply to the emitters. Three studied processing parameters were surface temperature (70, 75, 80�C), processing duration (from 0 to 40 min), and sample thickness (5, 9, 13 mm). The measured processing characteristics were moisture removal, drying and heating rates, and product quality (including residual enzyme activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD), and surface color change). Our results showed that higher surface temperature (80�C) resulted in a higher center temperature, faster inactivation of enzymes and less change in surface color than the lower surface temperature (70�C). After 10 min, all the processing conditions resulted in more than a 90% inactivation of PPO but the residual POD activities were still high (4~23%). Compared to continuous heating, intermittent heating took a longer time to reach the same level of enzyme inactivation but never caused the burning of samples. It is concluded that intermittent infrared heating can be used to simultaneously blanch and dehydrate fruits and vegetables since it satisfactorily inactivates the enzymes and removes a desirable amount of moisture while it preserves surface color. ADODR Monitoring Activities: Research progress is monitored by site visits, meeting and phone calls.
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Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06
Outputs
Progress Report 4d Progress report. This report serves to document research performed under a Specific Cooperative Research Agreement between ARS and a university partner. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent project 5325-41000-060-00D, "New Technologies to Process Value-Added, Healthy Foods from Fruits and Vegetables". A variety of new hurdle processing methods have been developed through this project. Infrared dehydration steps have been combined with conventional hot air drying and freeze-drying to produce unique, high quality final fruit and vegetable products at significantly lower energy and production costs. This research supports NP 306, Component 2, "New Processes, New Uses, and Value-Added Foods".
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