Preface

The global food industry has the largest number of demanding and knowledgeable consumers: the world population of seven billion inhabitants, since every person eats! That population requires food products that fulfill the high quality standards established by the food industry organizations.

Food shortages threaten human health and are aggravated by the disastrous, extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, fires, storms connected to climate change, global warming and greenhouse gas emissions which modify the environment and, consequently, the production of foods in the agriculture and husbandry sectors.

This well-organized volume includes twenty-two chapters, divided into three parts:


This collection of articles is a timely contribution to issues relating to the food industry; they were selected for use as a primer, an investigation guide and documentation based on modern, scientific and technical references. This volume is therefore appropriate for use by university researchers and practicing food developers and producers.

The book begins with an overview of physical and chemical properties of food such as hydrocolloids, which improve food texture, potential antioxidants from tropical plants, and the application of corrosion resistant stainless steel for fabrication of food processing equipment. The book then looks at the biotechnological aspects of food, for example electrochemical biosensors for food quality control, microbial peptic enzymes in the food and wine industry, and the effect of mycotoxins in food. Particular emphasis is placed on the methods and regulations to ensure the high quality of food. The food industry is in continuous evolution; the methods used to process the different types of food are developed to cover global needs and conditions. People worldwide have followed a basic diet of traditional foods; nevertheless, in the industrialized cities they tend to consume processed and packaged foodstuffs for convenience and to save time. The book concludes with a helpful section on industrial processes such as advanced oxidation processes, membranes for separation process in

#### XIV Preface

wastewater from food processing plants and, last but not least, how to ensure the efficient plant operation and maintenance applying corrosion prevention and control with modern technology.

The control of food processing and production is not only discussed in scientific terms. Engineering, economic and financial aspects are also considered for the advantage of food industry managers. The application of computer-based online procedures and protocols to control sterilizing operations, heat transfer processes, canning and packaging of solid and liquid foods or the use of freezing and no freezing icetemperature for conservation of freshness in meats and vegetables products which are all described in this book are interesting examples of the implementation of advanced technological developments in the food industry.

Finally, it is our duty and pleasure to acknowledge the valid information presented in the authors' chapters and the production of such a worthwhile compendium.

> **Benjamin Valdez, Michael Schorr and Roumen Zlatev**  Institute of Engineering Universidad Autónoma Baja California, Mexicali, México

**Part 1** 

**Physical and Chemical Features** 

**1** 

*Brazil* 

*1Federal University of Piauí 2Federal University of Paraíba 3São Paulo State University* 

**Physical and Chemical Characteristics of** 

Ítalo Herbert Lucena Cavalcante1, Lourival Ferreira Cavalcante2,

João Marcos de Sousa Miranda1 and Antonio Baldo Geraldo Martins3

Fruit quality is one of the most important themes of fruit industry, especially when concerning juice and pulp ones, since they have a direct impact on the use of synthetic products such as acidifiers, colorants and sugars, for instance, i.e., fruits with adequate physical and chemical properties have the use of synthetic composts reduced on their

The physical and chemical parameters of fruits are important indicators of their maturation and internal and external quality, decisive factors for accomplishment of market demands,

In this sense, this book chapter includes three themes related to fruit quality for industry: i) the importance of physical and chemical characteristics of cultivated tropical fruits; ii) the effects of management techniques on fruit quality; and iii) the physical and chemical

**2. Importance of physical and chemical characteristics of cultivated tropical** 

Quality is defined as the absence of defects or degree of excellence and it includes appearance, color, shape, injuries, flavor, taste, aroma, nutritional value and being safe for the consumer (Abbott, 1999). Due to a higher market exigency as for high quality products, the juice and pulp industries have been looking for fruits with better internal and external features, including fruit length and width; fruit weight; pulp, seed and peel percentages per fruit; number of seeds per fruit; seed size and peel diameter; soluble solids (ºBrix); titratable acidity (%); vitamin C content (mg/100g of fresh fruit); pulp pH and soluble

The maintenance of fruit quality characteristics (internal and external features above cited) demands postharvest handlings, such as: preventing mechanical injury, water loss and disease development, limiting unwanted physiological changes and preventing chemical and microbial contamination (Cook, 1999). It is important to mention that farmers, packers,

that have encouraged a lot of researches under different conditions overseas.

**1. Introduction** 

processed products.

**fruits** 

characteristics of non-conventional fruits.

solids/titratable acidity ratio.

**Tropical and Non-Conventional Fruits** 
