Particle Size and Viscosity Characterization of Fermented Barbecue Waste Stream

Fermentation combines sustainability trends with the economic benefits of recycling ingredients, transforming currently wasted streams into value-added products. In this work, rheology characterization was performed, in terms of viscosity and particle size distribution of wasted BBQ sauce and respective fermented products. Dilution and fermentation affected the viscosity characteristics of barbecue sauce, and caused changes in the particle size distribution of the BBQ stream, 50% and 25% fermented streams. The 25% diluted sample showed an increased flow index of 0.334, whereas the 50% sample maintained a flow index of 0.201, identical to the non-diluted stream sample (0.215). This indicates a direct relation between dilution percentage and flow behaviour. In addition, there was a decrease in consistency for both the 25% and 50% diluted samples (3,696 Pa.s0.334 and 4,650 Pa.s0.201, respectively), while the stream sample had a significantly higher consistency of 60,132 Pa.s0.215. The observed changes in particle size are attributed to the degradation of larger molecules and the formation of smaller ones during fermentation.