Stickiness measurement techniques for food powders: a review

The importance of sticky behaviour of amorphous food powders has been recognized over many decades in the food industry due to its influence on process and handling abilities and quality of the powders. This paper emphasizes the role of stickiness in the food powder industry as well as reviews the stickiness characterization techniques developed to date. This paper also attempts to correlate the stickiness behaviour of food powders to the instrumental analysis such as glass transition temperature. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved

Instrumentation and testing of a thermal mechanical compression test for glass-rubber transition analysis of food powders

A thermally controlled sample cell was developed and attached to a texture analyser for the glass-rubber transition analysis of food powders. The glass-rubber transition temperature was determined from mechanical changes measured during a thermal compression test. A standard procedure for the thermal mechanical compression test (TMCT) has been established. The results obtained from the TMCT technique were validated against standard DSC and TMA methods using skim milk powder as a model food powders. This technique was found valid for the analysis of food powder's glass-rubber transition. Compression forces of 19.62-49.05 N, heating rates of 20-50 degrees C/min and sample quantities of 0.5-1.0 g are recommended for food powder testing. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Applications of Thermal Mechanical Compression Tests in food powder analysis

A new Thermal Mechanical Compression Test (TMCT) was applied for glass-rubber transition and melting analyses of food powders and crystals. The TMCT technique measures the phase change of a material based on mechanical changes during the transition. Whey, honey, and apple juice powders were analyzed for their glass-rubber transition temperatures. Sucrose and glucose monohydrate crystals were analyzed for their melting temperatures. The results were compared to the values obtained by conventional DSC and TMA techniques. The new TMCT technique provided the results that were very close to the conventional techniques. This technique can be an alternative to analyze glass-rubber transition of food, pharmaceutical, and chemical dry products

Applications of the cyclone stickiness test for characterization of stickiness in food powders

The cyclone stickiness test (CST) technique was applied to measure the stickiness temperature and relative humidity of whey, honey, and apple juice powders. A moisture sorption isotherm study was conducted to analyze the surface moisture content of whey powder. The glass transition temperatures of the sample powder were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The stickiness results of these products were found within 20 degrees C above their surface glass transition temperatures, which is well within the normal temperature range for glass transition in general. The results obtained by the CST technique were found consistent with DSC values