Punjab PSEB Senior Secondary NSQF Food Processing flashcards

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

Water activity

Ratio of a food's vapour pressure to that of pure water at the same temperature. Most spoilage bacteria need above 0.90; most moulds grow down to about 0.80.

F0 value

Equivalent heating time in minutes at 121 degrees Celsius needed to achieve a specified microbial destruction, referenced to Clostridium botulinum spores. A minimum of 3 minutes is used for low-acid canned foods.

D-value

Decimal reduction time: the heating time at a constant temperature that destroys ninety percent of a microbial population. It quantifies heat resistance of a specific organism in a specific food.

z-value

The temperature change in degrees Celsius required to change the D-value tenfold. A small z-value means the organism is destroyed much faster by a modest rise in temperature.

Maillard reaction

Non-enzymatic browning between a reducing sugar and an amino group on heating. It produces brown pigments and aroma in bread crust, roasted coffee and fried foods.

Isoelectric point of casein

pH 4.6, at which casein carries no net charge and coagulates. This principle underlies paneer and chhana making by acid addition to hot milk.

HTST pasteurisation

High-temperature short-time treatment of milk at 72 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds followed by rapid cooling. It destroys pathogens while causing minimal change to flavour.

UHT processing

Heating milk or juice to 135 to 150 degrees Celsius for 2 to 4 seconds, then filling aseptically. Gives ambient shelf life of several months without refrigeration.

Parboiling of paddy

Soaking, steaming and drying paddy before milling. It gelatinises starch, drives vitamins into the grain and reduces breakage, giving higher head rice recovery.

Solvent extraction of oil

Use of hexane to extract residual oil from expeller cake, leaving under one percent oil. The solvent is recovered by distillation and the meal is used as feed.

Trypsin inhibitor

A heat-labile protein in soybean that blocks the digestive enzyme trypsin. Adequate moist heating during processing destroys it and improves protein utilisation.

HACCP

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points: a seven-principle system identifying hazards, setting measurable critical limits at control points, and monitoring, correcting, verifying and recording them.

Critical control point

A step where a control measure can be applied and is essential to prevent, eliminate or reduce a significant food safety hazard to an acceptable level. It must be measurable and monitored.

Prerequisite programmes

Basic hygiene and operational conditions such as cleaning, pest control, personnel hygiene, water quality and maintenance. They must exist before a HACCP plan can work.

FSSAI licence tiers

Basic registration for small-scale food businesses, state licence for medium turnover units and central licence for large, import or export-oriented operations under the FSS Act 2006.

Modified atmosphere packaging

Replacing package air with a controlled gas mix, usually lowered oxygen and raised carbon dioxide or nitrogen, to slow respiration and microbial growth of fresh and processed foods.

Water vapour transmission rate

Mass of water vapour passing through unit area of film per unit time at specified conditions. It governs moisture gain or loss and hence shelf life of dry and crisp foods.

FEFO storage

First Expired First Out: stock rotation in which the batch with the earliest expiry date is dispatched first. It reduces expired stock and is preferred over plain FIFO for perishables.

Break-even quantity

Fixed cost divided by the difference between selling price and variable cost per unit. It is the output at which total revenue equals total cost and profit is zero.

Contribution margin ratio

Sales minus variable cost, divided by sales. It shows the share of each rupee of sales available to cover fixed costs and generate profit.

Kjeldahl method

Protein estimation by acid digestion, distillation of released ammonia and titration. Nitrogen is multiplied by a conversion factor, commonly 6.25 for most foods.

Soxhlet extraction

Repeated solvent percolation of a dried sample to determine crude fat. Petroleum ether or hexane dissolves fat, which is weighed after solvent evaporation.

Blanching

Brief hot water or steam treatment of vegetables before freezing or drying. It inactivates enzymes and removes tissue gases, preventing off-flavours and colour loss.

Hurdle technology

Combining several mild preservation factors such as low water activity, reduced pH, chilling and preservatives. Each hurdle alone is insufficient, but together they stabilise the food.

Reynolds number

A dimensionless ratio of inertial to viscous forces in fluid flow. Below about 2100 flow is laminar, above about 4000 it is turbulent.

Multiple-effect evaporation

Linking evaporator vessels so vapour from one effect heats the next. It cuts steam consumption per kilogram of water removed and protects heat-sensitive flavours under vacuum.

Jam setting conditions

A gel forms near 65 to 68 percent soluble solids with adequate pectin and acid at about pH 3.0 to 3.3. Deficiency of acid or pectin gives a runny or failed set.

Trimethylamine test

An indicator of fish spoilage. Trimethylamine oxide is reduced by bacterial action to trimethylamine, which produces the characteristic fishy odour and is measured chemically.

Nitrite in curing

Sodium or potassium nitrite in cured meat fixes the pink colour and inhibits Clostridium botulinum. Its use is capped by regulation because of nitrosamine concerns.

Post-harvest losses

Losses of quantity and quality between harvest and consumption, caused mainly by poor handling, absent cold chain and seasonality. They are highest for fruits and vegetables.

PMFME scheme

Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises: a centrally sponsored credit-linked subsidy scheme supporting micro units with branding, training and common infrastructure.

Autoclave sterilisation

Sterilising media and glassware with saturated steam at 121 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes. Air must be fully removed for steam to reach the load effectively.