เกศนี บาลเย็น. Kinetics of Deleterious Change in Texture of Unpacked Extruded Corn Snack under Fluctuating Temperature. Master's Degree(Food Engineering). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2008.
Kinetics of Deleterious Change in Texture of Unpacked Extruded Corn Snack under Fluctuating Temperature
Abstract:
Generally, an extruded product has low moisture content and crisp quality attribute.
When it exposes to a humid environment. however, moisture in the air is adsorbed and
then deterioration of the product texture occurs. To be able to predict the shelf-life of
the product the moisture change information after packing is needed and should be
determined at a packing room condition. The objective of this research was therefore to
study the kinetics of moisture adsorption and texture degradation of extruded corn snack
exposing to different environmental conditions. In this study, the moisture sorption
isotherms were studied at 25, 30 and 35 C and over a range of 30-70 percent relative
humidity using a water activity meter (Novasina model Lablvlaster-aw). The
Guggenheim, Anderson and de Boer (GAB) model was found to describe the sorption
isotherms well. The isotherms were also combined with a moisture balance equation to
predict the moisture change versus time. The difference between the water activit) of
the product and of the ambient was set as the driving force for moisture transfer while
the moisture migration coefficient (km) was set as a process parameter. It was found that
the kill value was in the range of 1.1 x 10-6 - 1.6 x 10-6 kg water/m2.min.Pa and significantly
depended on the relative humidity (p:<=0.05) rather than the temperature in the studied
range. The mathematical model of the moisture change was validated with the
experimental data at a constant condition of 25 C, 30 percent RH; good agreement
between the experimental and predicted results was noted, The relationship between k.;
and percent RH was proposed in terms of a polynomial equation. The proposed
equation, in combination with the mass transfer equation, could be employed to predict
the moisture change in the product undergoing a fluctuating packing condition. A
comparative study of the effects of the fluctuating condition in harmonic pattern (30-70
percent RH) and a constant RH of 30 percent showed a significant difference of the
moisture content of the product at 180 min, that is, 3.5 and 2.0 percent (d.b.),
respectively. For the texture change in terms of the texture ratio, the first order kinetics
model could be effectively used to explain the observed phenomenon and the kinetic
constant (kc) was 1.2x10-4 - 2.2x10-4 min-1 at 30 and 70 percent RH, respectively. In
addition, kc was significantly affected by the relative humidity (p<=0.05) rather than the
temperature in the studied range in the same way as was the moisture migration
coefficient (km) .