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The ultimate goal of this project is to create new and alternative technologies to produce blanched, dehydrated/partially-dehydrated, infused/coated products from specality crops and fish by-products, by using a combination of infrared dry-blanching (IDB), freezing, freeze drying, air drying, and/or infusion/coating or related processing technologies. The new processing technologies would produce processed products with improved texture and nutritional quality, added value, lowered production costs, and reduced microbial loads compared to current technologies. The developed products may be used for cereals, snacks, and other applications.
APPROACH: Fresh and/or frozen products of specialty crops and fish by-products will be used for this research. The new processing methods may include IDB, freeze drying, freezing, air drying, dipping, infusion and/or coating, or combinations of some of the processing methods. The sliced or restructured fruits and vegetables may be dipped in antioxidant solution for the prevention of discoloration prior to any thermal processing steps. The effect of infusion/coating of flavors, humectants, nutrients and phytochemicals at various processing stages on product quality and processing characteristics will be tested and evaluated. Specifically, the media of infusion/coating to be studied will include fruit puree, calcium, sugars, sugar polyols, high fructose corn syrup, and related infusion and coating media. The fish by-products will be processed through various methods to improve the value of the by-products. The influence of degrees of blanching and dehydration by using IDB and heated air prior to freezing and/or freeze drying on product quality and processing characteristics will be determined. The product quality evaluation will include texture characteristics, such as density and crunchiness, appearance, color, flavor, hydration rate in skim and full-fat milks, water activities, sensory evaluation, enzyme inactivation, and microbial safety. The processing and energy efficiencies will be determined for various processing regimes. The effects of the operation and design parameters on product quality and energy efficiency will also be studied.