Preface

The foods for human consumption are produced from plant-based or animal-based raw materials. Excluding raw foods for consumption, raw materials are required to be processed for the production of industrial foods. These materials can be processed in numerous ways, but there is currently a focus on implementing innovative, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective solutions to ensure good food quality and variety.

Post-harvested raw materials exhibit differences in physical, chemical, and biological compositions. Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and water are the main components of foods and these components directly determine the design of food processing techniques. Several properties (sensorial, physical, chemical, and microbial) should be considered when applying food processing technologies to fulfill product requirements.

For the increasing population all over the world, the main problem seems to be hunger and insufficient food. As such, the food industry is attempting to ensure food safety and provide food security. Although new technologies have great potential in the production and supply chain of food, they are open to ethical, philosophical, and religious debate. For example, sustainable and nano-technological foods such as laboratory meat, insect-derived proteins, vegetable proteins, and myco-proteins are only just beginning to be considered. Studies are being carried out to provide food to crews in space travels. In addition, strict regulations, applications, and devices are being developed to combat the problem of food waste. New automated devices are being implemented to monitor, process, and pack food. Global Positioning System (GPS) and blockchain technologies are being implemented for a traceable food production system.

This book presents a comprehensive review of food processing applications. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to food processing. Chapter 2 discusses the usage of rice bran, corn fibre, and sugarcane bagasse and their influences on the quality of baked foods. Chapter 3 discusses honey production processes. Chapter 4 discusses the benefits and negative impacts of consuming chocolate and provides the process of manufacturing the product. Chapter 5 examines the potential usage and application of pectin in food packaging. Chapter 6 highlights the application of agro-industrial wastes for packaging processes. Chapter 7 evaluates computational applications for canned foods. Chapter 8 discusses Taylor vortices in thermal food processes. Finally, Chapter 9 provides information about imaging technologies to monitor food quality.

We would like to thank the authors who shared their works with us. We are also grateful to Author Service Manager Mrs. Jasna Bozic at IntechOpen for her assistance throughout the publication process. We also thank Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University and Çukurova University for their support.

#### **Dr. Işil Var**

Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Engineering, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey

#### **Dr. Sinan Uzunlu**

Food Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Alanya, Turkey

Section 1 Introduction

#### **Chapter 1**

## Introductory Chapter: Food Processing

*Sinan Uzunlu and Işil Var*

#### **1. Introduction**

Evidence suggests that the earliest food processing was undertaken in human history, using the heating process to make raw foodstuffs more palatable. When agricultural activities are started, the need for storage and preservation of raw food materials arose by 3000–1500 BC. Drying under sunlight, fermenting plant-based foods, grinding cereals, and baking bread in oven were the earliest attempts of food processing techniques. Exchanging of foods in trade and explorers-oriented technologies resulted in the change of food processing techniques in distinct food products (e.g., dairies, bakery, fermented foods). All the efforts brought today's reached point [1].

In today's world, food processing is a part of manufacturing industry. What we consume as foods are produced from plant-based or animal-based raw materials, in the meantime called as agricultural sources. Apart from directly consumed foods (e.g., raw eaten fruits) at postharvest term, the raw materials are required to be processed for a healthy consumption, as intermediate or finished value-added food products. Energy, equipment, labor-ship, science are used for a step (unit operation) or a series of steps (process) to produce a marketable product. For example, exposing milk to a heat source could be given as a simple example for a unit operation in terms of heat treatment (pasteurization or sterilization) in the case of milk processing at dairy industry. Therefore, from starting commercial sterilization the way what we observed up to now shaped the food industry [1, 2].

To meet the needs (e.g., shelf life stabile, nutritive, and variety in convenience with diet) of the global market, postharvested raw materials are processed in different ways. To serve a marketable food product, there are a number of intrinsic and extrinsic parameters that determine specific processing design of each product. Raw materials as sources of foods to be used for processing are complex substances. As intrinsic parameters the content of foods, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals along with water are first accounted. However, biological, chemical, and physical properties might be classified both in intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. The content and surrounding atmosphere (e.g., in-pack conditions, storage room conditions) of foods vary for almost each food product. Biological (bacteria, yeast and molds, viruses, parasites), chemical (pesticide, fungicide, allergens, mycotoxins), and physical (stones, dirt, metal, glass, insect fragments, hair) hazards should be controlled for a safe, nutritious, and wholesome consumption.

The basic processing steps consist of raw material harvesting, pretreatment (e.g., washing, separation,), basic unit operations (e.g., heat treatment, freezing, drying), and packaging. There are currently a number of different ways of processing technologies being applied in different ways at industrial scale. It is clear that almost every food types need different processing conditions to be an optimal product in its distinctive package. An overall view to food processing is presented in **Table 1**.

*A Glance at Food Processing Applications*


#### **Table 1.**

*An overview to food processing. Adapted from Park et al. [2].*

However, both thermal and nonthermal food processing technologies are up-to-date widely used, alternative food processing technologies are now involved in the field. Some examples for these thermal technologies, microwave, radiofrequency, infrared heating, pressure-assisted thermal sterilization, and sous-vide processing, could be given. Whereas, nonthermal technologies in generally apply high hydrostatic pressure, irradiation, ultrasound, pulsed electric field, pulsed light technologies, and 3D printing. Nanotechnology (e.g., bio-sensing, packaging, agro-chemical production) is being started to implement besides these traditional processing techniques. The novel nonthermal or cold-pasteurization technologies provide less energy and water usage than traditional processing technologies, to sustain the scarce resources in globally. These technologies in sum serve for better quality, more healthful, minimally processed, traceable, and safer foods. Beyond product performance, the expectation of consumers is to consume safe foods that are produced under hygienic and sanitary conditions [3–5].

The food industry ensures food safety with the rise of pasteurization and sterilization techniques and food security with modern agricultural practices at reasonable prices. Meanwhile, the main problem still seems to be the issue of hunger and insufficient food, and the demand for food for the growing world population is still under discussion. Moreover, to meet the dynamic conditions and consumeroriented needs, synchronized innovative solutions in food processing technologies should be found and applied.

So far all the time, the urgent need was to feed the world, by growing sufficient raw material and producing food products (e.g., wheat flour, dairies, meat products, aqua culture products, etc.) at reasonable prices. However, in today's world, the climate crisis threatens sustainable food production, whereas sustainability concern has now become a real endangering issue. The United Nations defined "*the* 

#### *Introductory Chapter: Food Processing DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104528*

*needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs*" for sustainable development [6]. From starting this end, a food production should ensure secure, environmentally sustainable, and healthy supply. The food industry produces more accessible and convenient foods, in terms of having reasonable price and remaining stable in predetermined shelf life periods. However, the quality of the foods, mainly snacks or on-the-go food or beverages, should be questioned for quality aspects. These types of foods and beverages containing carbohydrates, lipids, sugar, and food additives, which are increasing day by day and are purchased relatively cheaply, should be discussed for their unhealthy conditions. For the case of this concern in food industry, a high amount of negative perception on processed foods has become among consumers. The rate of literate people, social media, TV programs, magazines have all contributed to aforementioned negative concern on foods in pack.

To overcome current negative conditions, efficient and economic use of scarce resources (water, land, energy, air), environmental protection, and waste (food and non-food) management are requiring innovative attempts, unless carrying no suspicion on health concern of consumers.

### **Author details**

Sinan Uzunlu1 \* and Işil Var2

1 Food Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Alanya, Turkey

2 Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Engineering, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey

\*Address all correspondence to: suzunlu@hotmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

#### **References**

[1] Fellows PJ. Food Processing Technology. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing; 2009

[2] Park SH, Buddhi PL, Balasubramaniam VM. Principles of food processing. In: Clark S, Jung S, Lamsal B, editors. Food Processing: Principles and Applications. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Publishing; 2014. pp. 1-15

[3] Neetoo H, Chen H. Alternative food processing technologies. In: Clark S, Jung S, Lamsal B, editors. Food Processing: Principles and Applications. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Publishing; 2014. pp. 137-169

[4] Gunasekaran S. Nanotechnology for food: Principles and selected applications. In: Clark S, Jung S, Lamsal B, editors. Food Processing: Principles and Applications. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Publishing; 2014. pp. 171-205

[5] Schoenfuss T, Lillemo JH. Food safety and quality assurance. In: Clark S, Jung S, Lamsal B, editors. Food Processing: Principles and Applications. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Publishing; 2014. pp. 233-247

[6] Murphy F, McDonnell K, Fagan CC. Sustainability and environmental issues in food processing. In: Clark S, Jung S, Lamsal B, editors. Food Processing: Principles and Applications. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Publishing; 2014. pp. 207-232

Section 2
