Maharashtra HSC Multi-Skill Food Processing (NSQF) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Water activity

Ratio of the water vapour pressure of a food to that of pure water at the same temperature. Below 0.60 most spoilage bacteria and moulds cannot grow.

D-value

Time in minutes at a stated temperature needed to reduce a microbial population by 90 percent, that is by one logarithmic cycle; used to compare heat resistance of organisms.

z-value

Temperature change in degrees Celsius required to change the D-value tenfold. A larger z-value means the organism is less sensitive to changes in heating temperature.

HACCP

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system with seven principles: hazard analysis, CCP determination, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and record keeping.

Critical control point

A step at which a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level and where a measurable limit can be monitored and corrected.

Cleaning versus sanitizing

Cleaning removes soil, grease and residues using detergent; sanitizing then reduces the remaining microorganisms on a food-contact surface to a safe accepted level.

HTST pasteurization

High Temperature Short Time treatment of milk at 72 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds followed by rapid cooling; it destroys pathogens and most vegetative spoilage organisms.

Hurdle technology

Combining several mild preservation factors such as low pH, low water activity, refrigeration, modified atmosphere and preservatives so that pathogens cannot overcome all barriers at once.

Commercial sterilization

Heat treatment of a canned low-acid food sufficient to inactivate Clostridium botulinum spores, typically designed as a twelve-log reduction known as the 12-D concept.

Controlled atmosphere storage

Storage of fruit and vegetables at low temperature with reduced oxygen of about 2 to 5 percent and raised carbon dioxide, slowing respiration and extending shelf life.

Oxidative rancidity

Reaction of unsaturated fats with oxygen producing peroxides and off-flavours. Measured by peroxide value and slowed by antioxidants, nitrogen flushing, cool and dark storage.

FEFO

First Expired First Out stock rotation, in which the batch carrying the earliest expiry date is dispatched first; applied to perishable and date-marked food products.

Wheat tempering

Adding water to wheat before milling and resting it so the bran becomes tough and the endosperm mellow, improving bran separation and giving cleaner, whiter flour.

Parboiling of paddy

Three-step hydrothermal treatment of paddy: soaking, steaming and drying. It gelatinizes starch, hardens the grain, raises head rice yield and retains B vitamins.

Trypsin inhibitor

Heat-labile protein in soybean and some pulses that blocks the digestive enzyme trypsin; it is destroyed by adequate soaking and cooking such as boiling or extrusion.

Pectin gel formation

Jam and jelly set requires about 65 percent soluble solids, acid to pH 3.0 to 3.4, and 0.5 to 1 percent pectin; the balance of the three controls firmness.

Blanching

Hot water or steam treatment for one to three minutes that inactivates peroxidase and catalase, fixes colour and removes tissue gases before freezing or drying.

IQF freezing

Individually Quick Frozen: fruit or vegetable pieces are frozen separately in a blast freezer or fluidized bed so they stay free-flowing rather than forming a solid block.

Standardization of milk

Adjusting the fat and solids-not-fat content of milk to a prescribed legal or product standard by separating cream or adding skim milk, usually before pasteurization.

Homogenization

Forcing milk at high pressure through a narrow valve to break fat globules into sizes below about 2 micrometres, preventing cream separation and improving whiteness and digestibility.

MBRT

Methylene Blue Reduction Test: a dye is added to milk and the time for decolourisation is measured; faster reduction indicates a higher bacterial load and poorer quality.

Rigor mortis

Stiffening of muscle after death as ATP is depleted and actin binds myosin; meat is tough during rigor and should be aged until rigor resolves before deboning.

TVB-N

Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen, a fish freshness index: as bacterial spoilage proceeds, ammonia and amines accumulate and TVB-N rises above the acceptable limit.

Meat curing

Treating meat with salt, nitrite, sugar and spices. Nitrite forms nitrosomyoglobin, giving the pink colour, and inhibits growth of Clostridium botulinum.

Baking powder

A leavening mixture of sodium bicarbonate and an acid such as tartaric acid, which releases carbon dioxide when moistened and heated, raising cakes and biscuits.

Sugar boiling stages

Concentration stages judged by dropping syrup into cold water, from thread near 110 degrees Celsius to hard crack at 149 to 154 degrees, each giving a different confectionery texture.

Modified atmosphere packaging

Replacing the air inside a pack with a controlled gas mixture, usually nitrogen, carbon dioxide and sometimes oxygen, to slow respiration and microbial growth in fresh food.

Aseptic packaging

Filling commercially sterile food into pre-sterilized containers under sterile conditions, giving shelf-stable products such as UHT milk packed in laminated cartons.

Nutrition information panel

Mandatory label table giving energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sugar per 100 grams or millilitres, required under Indian food labelling regulations.

Kjeldahl method

Digestion of food with sulphuric acid and a catalyst, distillation of the released ammonia and titration to measure nitrogen; protein equals nitrogen multiplied by 6.25.

BOD

Biochemical Oxygen Demand: oxygen consumed by microorganisms decomposing organic matter in wastewater over five days at 20 degrees Celsius; a key indicator of effluent strength.

Break-even point

Sales volume at which total revenue equals total cost, calculated as fixed cost divided by contribution per unit, that is selling price minus variable cost per unit.