Modelling volume change and deformation in food products/processes: An overview

Volume change and large deformation occur in different solid and semi-solid foods during processing, e.g., shrinkage of fruits and vegetables during drying and of meat during cooking, swelling of grains during hydration, and expansion of dough during baking and of snacks during extrusion and puffing. In addition, food is broken down during oral processing. Such phenomena are the result of complex and dynamic relationships between composition and structure of foods, and driving forces established by processes and operating conditions. In particular, water plays a key role as plasticizer, strongly influencing the state of amorphous materials via the glass transition and, thus, their mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to improve the understanding about these complex phenomena and to develop useful prediction tools. For this aim, different modelling approaches have been applied in the food engineering field. The objective of this article is to provide a general (non-systematic) review of recent (2005–2021) and relevant works regarding the modelling and simulation of volume change and large deformation in various food products/processes. Empirical-and physics-based models are considered, as well as different driving forces for deformation, in order to identify common bottlenecks and challenges in food engineering applications.Fil: Purlis, Emmanuel. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Cevoli, Chiara. Università di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Fabbri, Angelo. Università di Bologna; Itali

A Material Point Method for Elastoplasticity with Ductile Fracture and Frictional Contact

Simulating physical materials with dynamic movements to photo-realistic resolution has always been one of the most crucial and challenging topics in Computer Graphics. This dissertation considers large-strain elastoplasticity theory applied to the low-to-medium stiffness regime, with topological changes and codimensional objects incorporated. We introduce improvements to the Material Point Method (MPM) for two particular objectives, simulating fracturing ductile materials and incorporation of MPM and Lagrangian Finite Element Method (FEM).Our first contribution, simulating ductile fracture, utilizes traditional particle-based MPM [SSC13, SCS94] as well as the Lagrangian energy formulation of [JSS15] which uses a tetrahedron mesh, rather than particle-based estimation of the deformation gradient and potential energy. We model failure and fracture via elastoplasticity with damage. The material is elastic until its deformation exceeds a Rankine or von Mises yield condition. At that point, we use a softening model that shrinks the yield surface until it reaches the damage thresh- old. Once damaged, the material Lam ́e coefficients are modified to represent failed material. This approach to simulating ductile fracture with MPM is successful, as MPM naturally captures the topological changes coming from the fracture. However, rendering the crack surfaces can be challenging. We design a novel visualization technique dedicated to rendering the material’s boundary and its intersection with the evolving crack surfaces. Our approach uses a simple and efficient element splitting strategy for tetrahedron meshes to create crack surfaces. It employs an extrapolation technique based on the MPM simulation. For traditional particle-based MPM, we use an initial Delaunay tetrahedralization to connect randomly sampled MPM particles. Our visualization technique is a post-process and can run after the MPM simulation for efficiency. We demonstrate our method with several challenging simulations of ductile failure with considerable and persistent self-contact and applications with thermomechanical models for baking and cooking.Our second contribution, hybrid MPM–Lagrangian-FEM, aims to simulate elastic objects like hair, rubber, and soft tissues. It utilizes a Lagrangian mesh for internal force computation and a Eulerian grid for self-collision, as well as coupling with external materials. While recent MPM techniques allow for natural simulation of hyperelastic materials represented with Lagrangian meshes, they utilize an updated Lagrangian discretization and use the Eulerian grid degrees of freedom to take variations of the potential energy. It often coarsens the degrees of freedom of the Lagrangian mesh and can lead to artifacts. We develop a hybrid approach that retains Lagrangian degrees of freedom while still allowing for natural coupling with other materials simulated with traditional MPM, e.g., sand, snow, etc. Furthermore, while recent MPM advances allow for resolution of frictional contact with codimensional simulation of hyperelasticity, they do not generalize to the case of volumetric materials. We show that our hybrid approach resolves these issues. We demonstrate the efficacy of our technique with examples that involve elastic soft tissues coupled with kinematic skeletons, extreme deformation, and coupling with various elastoplastic materials. Our approach also naturally allows for two-way rigid body coupling

Study and development of new functional foods containing cereals

The aim of this PhD thesis was the development of staple foods enriched with compounds, which have an important impact on the nutritional and physiological aspects. Selection of ingredients with high content of dietary fibre (inulin, \u3b2-glucans and resistant starch) has been performed to formulate functional foods. In particular, the effect of the ingredients on dough rheological properties, final products quality and on glycaemic response was evaluated in order to identify optimum formulation and manufacturing process conditions for high quality functional foods. In particular, the inclusion of inulin (short and long-chain: GR and HPX respectively) in extruded snack, at levels from 2% to 7%, lowered dough consistency due to a reduction in water absorption. Large differences in elastic properties of samples were observed between 25 and 95 \ub0C due to incompatibility between inulin and starch and different kinetics of starch gelatinization; however, inulin GR had a greater effect than HPX. Short-chain inulin increased product expansion and hardness compared with the reference, while 7% of HPX decreased these parameters. Short-chain inulin lowered the extent of non-enzymatic browning. Snacks made with 5% inulin HPX can be used to enhance the fibre content without impacting negatively on product quality. A level of 8% of the two types of inulin and \u3b2-glucan (Barley Balance) were added to a gluten-starch model system, which represented semolina for pasta production. Dietary fibre ingredients were added individually and in combination. In general, when added individually, inulin lowered dough consistency, while \u3b2-glucan increased this parameter compared to control (without fibre). Moreover, the differences in elastic properties and kinetics of starch gelatinization suggested that short-chain inulin weakens dough structure, while Barley Balance increases elastic effective interactions. However, when dietary fibres were coupled, dough characteristics resulted similar to the gluten-starch model (control); the results suggested that a combination of inulin and Barley Balance allowed to obtain a dough suitable for functional pasta production. A method for predicting the glycaemic content of pasta was developed. With this purpose, a series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of different sample preparation steps, prior to the in vitro starch digestion process, on the predictive in vitro glycaemic response of durum wheat pasta (control) and enriched with fibre (pea flour). The evaluation of the different methods of sample preparation illustrated that the maceration of pasta samples prior to starch digestion significantly increased the extent of starch degradation and hence the area under the curve (AUC) of reducing sugar released during the digestion process. Mastication of the samples prior to in vitro assessment increased the initial reducing sugar content of samples but yielded the lowest recorded AUC for all samples. The results indicate that the choice of the preparation step used prior to in vitro starch digestion procedures can significantly affect the predictive glycaemic response - AUC values of samples, and hence manipulate differences attributed to product composition or structure. This may have an impact in terms of choosing the most appropriate method of glycaemic analysis for the food industry. Based on the results obtained from the study of the gluten-starch model system and from the development of in vitro starch digestion analysis, pasta samples were made by replacing 15% of durum wheat semolina with inulin HPX, inulin GR, Glucagel, psyllium and oat material (added individually and in combinations). The cooking, textural, colour characteristics and predicted glycaemic response of the pastas were evaluated and compared to control sample containing exclusively durum wheat semolina. Generally, material addition to the durum wheat pasta increased the cooking losses, swelling index and water absorption, whilst reduced firmness and resistance to uniaxial extension of pastas. Raw spaghetti samples resulted significantly darker (L*) and more redness (a*) than raw control pasta. In the cooked pasta, all inulin enriched pasta samples were brighter than semolina pasta. Pasta containing 15% semolina of oat flour showed the best performance (except for the colour) compared to the other experimental pasta samples, but was significantly different to control durum wheat sample. Moreover, the inclusion of inulin GR had a less deteriorating effect when added in combination with oat flour. This illustrates that some fibre rich sources may act better in combinations than separately. In general, all enriched dietary fibre pasta sample showed a significant decrease in reducing sugars released and standardised AUC values compared to control pasta. However, this study showed that the combination of dietary fibres in pasta formulation led to an antagonistic effect on the predicted glycaemic response. The last product took in consideration in this research project was gluten free pasta, which was prepared substituting rice flour (reference) with 10, 15 and 20% of resistant starch type II (RS). Farinograph test registered no changes in water absorption at any level of substitution. The presence of fibre caused an increase in optimum cooking time and firmness parameters and a decrease in stickiness and cooking loss values; however, no significant differences among all levels of substitution (10-20%) could be appreciated. The loss of resistant starch content (31%) in raw gluten-free pasta suggested that processing conditions could be a critical point for resistant starch stability. Rhelogical on doughs obtained from all raw pastas showed different G' slopes for fibre-enriched samples compared with the reference, ascribable to some modifications in resistant starch granules during pasta cooking. This observation was confirmed by polarized light microscopy analysis performed on RS granules during heating process conditions. Based on these results, pasta samples made with 20% of RS can be considered as a food product source of dietary fibre

Modelling Processes and Products in the Cereal Chain

[EN] In recent years, modelling techniques have become more frequently adopted in the field of food processing, especially for cereal-based products, which are among the most consumed foods in the world. Predictive models and simulations make it possible to explore new approaches and optimize proceedings, potentially helping companies reduce costs and limit carbon emissions. Nevertheless, as the different phases of the food processing chain are highly specialized, advances in modelling are often unknown outside of a single domain, and models rarely take into account more than one step. This paper introduces the first high-level overview of modelling techniques employed in different parts of the cereal supply chain, from farming to storage, from drying to milling, from processing to consumption. This review, issued from a networking project including researchers from over 30 different countries, aims at presenting the current state of the art in each domain, showing common trends and synergies, to finally suggest promising future venues for research.The authors would like to acknowledge networking and article processing charge support by COST Action CA15118 (Mathematical and Computer Science Methods for Food Science and Industry).Carvalho, O.; Charalambides, MN.; Djekic, I.; Athanassiou, C.; Bakalis, S.; Benedito Fort, JJ.; Briffaz, A.... (2021). Modelling Processes and Products in the Cereal Chain. Foods. 10(1):1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10010082S11810

Modelling Processes and Products in the Cereal Chain

ReviewIn recent years, modelling techniques have become more frequently adopted in the field of food processing, especially for cereal-based products, which are among the most consumed foods in the world. Predictive models and simulations make it possible to explore new approaches and optimize proceedings, potentially helping companies reduce costs and limit carbon emissions. Nevertheless, as the different phases of the food processing chain are highly specialized, advances in modelling are often unknown outside of a single domain, and models rarely take into account more than one step. This paper introduces the first high-level overview of modelling techniques employed in different parts of the cereal supply chain, from farming to storage, from drying to milling, from processing to consumption. This review, issued from a networking project including researchers from over 30 different countries, aims at presenting the current state of the art in each domain, showing common trends and synergies, to finally suggest promising future venues for researchinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Recovery, Isolation and Characterization on Food Proteins

Proteins play an important role in human nutrition. At present, most of our protein requirement is covered by animal proteins. However, the production of animal proteins is associated with a high consumption of resources and land/sea, which contributes considerably to greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, interest in the recovery of alternative proteins for food applications is greater than ever. Alternative proteins can be produced by plants, algae, fungi, and insects. So far, plant proteins such as wheat or soy protein preparations still dominate the market for alternative protein products, but more and more new proteins are entering the market. The quality of the proteins—particularly their functional, nutritional, and sensory properties—is influenced by the raw materials from which they are obtained and the extraction and isolation processes used. According to their functional properties (e.g., protein solubility, gelling, or emulsification properties), alternative protein preparations can be applied as substitutes for animal proteins or for the protein enrichment of food. The use of proteins in foods that are attractive to consumers is a challenge, especially if these proteins are to replace meat, milk, or egg products, since they need to mimic their texture, sensory properties, color, and taste. In addition to dealing with various technological challenges, the development of tailormade food products also requires knowledge of the driving forces and barriers between different consumer groups when using these products

Impact of rapeseed press cake on the rheological properties and expansion dynamics of extruded maize starch

Rapeseed press cake (RPC), an oil pressing side product rich in protein and fiber, can be combined with starch and valorized into directly expanded products using extrusion technology. The mechanism of starch expansion has been studied in detail, but the impact of RPC on expansion behavior is poorly understood. However, it can be linked to rheological and physicochemical properties and is a key product quality parameter. Blends with different amounts of RPC (0, 10, 40 g/100 g) were extruded at different barrel temperatures (100, 120, 140 °C) and moisture contents (24 or 29 g/100 g). The initial, intermediate and final sectional, longitudinal and volumetric expansion indices (SEI, LEI, VEI) were monitored directly, 10 s and 24 h after die exit to measure extrudate growth and shrinkage. The viscous and elastic properties of the extruded blends were investigated in a closed cavity rheometer. Starch and blends with 10 g/100 g RPC achieved a high initial SEI followed by significant short-term shrinkage. Blends containing 40 g/100 g RPC did not show any initial expansion. With increasing RPC content, the intermediate SEI decreased, but all samples reached a similar final SEI due to time-dependent swelling of the RPC blends. With increasing RPC content, the elasticity of the starch-based extruded samples significantly increased. Our study shows that comprehensive control and understanding of expansion mechanisms can be achieved only by investigating all stages of extrudate growth and shrinkage. We also found that the closed cavity rheometer is a powerful tool to correlate the rheological properties and expansion mechanisms of biopolymers

Rheological and physico-chemical characteristics of gluten-free chestnut flour products with dried brown seaweed powders

The PhD Thesis "Rheological and physico-chemical characteristics of gluten-free chestnut flour products with dried brown seaweed powders" is mainly based on the study of the process of gluten-free products obtaining with high antioxidant character, suitable for the celiac population, from raw materials native from Galicia, chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) and brown seaweeds with high polyphenols content (Ascophyllum nodosum, Bifurcaria bifurcata and Fucus vesiculosus) in order to increase and diversify their consumption. The studies carried out in this Thesis were focused on the determination of the most adequate conditions for the obtainment of seaweed powders (drying and milling operations) with high antioxidant activity and polyphenols content and the effects of their addition in the gluten-free doughs (kneading and baking) to obtain a suitable final product based on its physicochemical properties (colour, texture and antioxidant activity) and from a technological point of view