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Can high-pressure homogenization cause thermal degradation to nutrients?

Håkansson, Andreas LU (2019) In Journal of Food Engineering 240. p.133-144
Abstract

Although originally developed for fat globule disruption in dairy applications, high-pressure homogenizers are extensively used in other food processing applications. Two newer applications are in forming nanoemulsion for delivering supplemented nutrients and as a preservation technique, both using higher pressures than traditional applications. This has raised concern that friction heat created in the homogenizer causes thermal degradation to temperature sensitive molecules such as nutrients. This contribution uses a numerical model to give insight into temperature profiles for drops in a homogenizer valve and investigates when homogenization at elevated pressures is expected to cause thermal degradation. A fast method for estimating... (More)

Although originally developed for fat globule disruption in dairy applications, high-pressure homogenizers are extensively used in other food processing applications. Two newer applications are in forming nanoemulsion for delivering supplemented nutrients and as a preservation technique, both using higher pressures than traditional applications. This has raised concern that friction heat created in the homogenizer causes thermal degradation to temperature sensitive molecules such as nutrients. This contribution uses a numerical model to give insight into temperature profiles for drops in a homogenizer valve and investigates when homogenization at elevated pressures is expected to cause thermal degradation. A fast method for estimating the extent of degradation for a given application is also proposed. It is concluded that no thermal degradation is expected inside the valve, almost regardless of operating conditions, due to the short residence time. Provided that cooling is applied after the homogenizer, degradation downstream of the valve can also be avoided.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Emulsification, Emulsion, High-pressure homogenization, Nutrients, Thermal degradation
in
Journal of Food Engineering
volume
240
pages
12 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85053116187
ISSN
0260-8774
DOI
10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.07.024
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bc22d73b-7d78-4ab1-98a8-264c48f6279f
date added to LUP
2018-10-08 09:58:43
date last changed
2023-12-02 14:40:57
@article{bc22d73b-7d78-4ab1-98a8-264c48f6279f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Although originally developed for fat globule disruption in dairy applications, high-pressure homogenizers are extensively used in other food processing applications. Two newer applications are in forming nanoemulsion for delivering supplemented nutrients and as a preservation technique, both using higher pressures than traditional applications. This has raised concern that friction heat created in the homogenizer causes thermal degradation to temperature sensitive molecules such as nutrients. This contribution uses a numerical model to give insight into temperature profiles for drops in a homogenizer valve and investigates when homogenization at elevated pressures is expected to cause thermal degradation. A fast method for estimating the extent of degradation for a given application is also proposed. It is concluded that no thermal degradation is expected inside the valve, almost regardless of operating conditions, due to the short residence time. Provided that cooling is applied after the homogenizer, degradation downstream of the valve can also be avoided.</p>}},
  author       = {{Håkansson, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{0260-8774}},
  keywords     = {{Emulsification; Emulsion; High-pressure homogenization; Nutrients; Thermal degradation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{133--144}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Food Engineering}},
  title        = {{Can high-pressure homogenization cause thermal degradation to nutrients?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.07.024}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2018.07.024}},
  volume       = {{240}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}