Heat transfer and lethality considerations in aseptic processing of liquid/particle mixtures: a review

Consumer awareness and demand for nutritious yet inexpensive food products call for innovative processing techniques that have both safety and quality as primary objectives. These challenges appear to have been met by aseptic processing techniques, especially for liquid and high-acid foods. However, the extension of aseptic processing principles to low-acid foods containing discrete particles in viscous sauces has not been approved by regulatory agencies, particularly in North America. This apparent limitation is due primarily to the lack of adequate temperature monitoring devices to keep track of particles in dynamic motion, as well as to the residence time distribution of particles flowing in the continuous heat-hold-cool sections of the aseptic processing system. These problems have prompted active research to describe the phenomenal behavior of particulates through sound mathematical modeling and computer simulators. The accuracy of mathematical models depends heavily on how accurate input parametric values are. These parameters include the thermophysical properties of the carrier fluid and particles, as well as the aseptic processing system characteristics in relation to residence time distribution and the fluid-to-particle interfacial heat transfer coefficient. Apparently, several contradictory findings have been reported in the literature with respect to the effect of various processing parameters on the above-mentioned input parametric values. The need therefore arises for more collaborative studies involving the industry and academia. This review brings to perspective, the current status on the aseptic processing of particulate foods with respect to the critical processing parameters which affect the fluid-to-particle convective heat transfer coefficient associated with particulate laden products.