Mixing, Blending, and Emulsification in Processing
摘要
Unit operations are common food operations that are utilized during the processing in food industries. These are carried out for the development of various food products and includes mixing, blending, heating, pasteurization, cooling, grinding, emulsification, etc. Mixing is one of the basic unit operations that is required in various food processing techniques that includes addition of solids into liquids, preparation of ingredients, incorporation of air and structure development during the process of mixing. A complete process of mixing includes formation of uniform mixture in minimum time and cost of processing. It is used in various industries for elimination of heterogenicity in a food product to an acceptable level providing a more uniform processing environment and product. In addition, it is also useful in lowering the range of gradients in concentration, solid mass fractions and temperature. Mixing is a vigorous while blending is a gentle processing technique. Blending is a processing technique for making compounds inseparable but not necessarily in a homogenous fashion. It is concerned with combination of solids with solids and solids with small amounts of liquids. Emulsification is a process of combination of two liquids that are not able to mix properly i.e. water and oil. Process of emulsification starts with the formation of interface between two liquids. Emulsifier is needed for the formation of emulsion as it leads to a creation of stable emulsion by making a network that links molecules of two liquids together that prevents the two liquids from separation by coating the droplets. These operation plays a vital role in processing of various food products.