Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practice

This book fills the gap between detailed mathematical treatments of food processing, qualitative descriptions of food processes, and books which describe the effects of food but do not give details of the processes or equipment. It is a comprehensive yet basic text, offering an overview of several unit operations, at the same time providing adequate detail on theory, processing conditions and processing equipment, and their effects on food. Each chapter describes the related unit operations, and applied theoretical considerations to the operation of equipment and its effect on shelf life. It collates and synthesizes information from a wide range of sources, combining food processing theory and calculations with nutritional quality. The operating parameters of different types of equipment are compared to indicate how decisions for the selection of equipment are made, whilst the advantages and limitations of different processes and equipment are explained. Further chapters present energy, labour and cost-saving methods, detail the values of thermal and physical properties of selected foods, each chapter containing a comprehensive and useful list of reference.