Effect of UV-C Treatment on Functional Properties of Pearl Millet Flour: Process Modelling and Optimisation

The investigation evaluated the influence of UV-C treatment on the alteration of functional properties of pearl millet flour. Water solubility index (WSI), oil absorption capacity (OAC), water absorption capacity (WAC), emulsion capacity (EC), and viscometric behaviour were studied under various UV-C treatment conditions (power level, treatment time, and bed density). They were observed to be greatly influenced by the treatment parameters. The WAC and WSI increased as the UV power and bed density increased. WSI decreased as exposure duration increased, while OAC exhibited a contrary pattern under the same treatment conditions. The process parameters were analyzed and optimized using both response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) techniques. ANN model demonstrated the best fit with high R² and low error values. This study's findings may promote the utilization of pearl millet flour in producing different food products, as it alters functional qualities and can potentially expand UV applications in food processing for overall quality improvements.