RBSE Sec Voc Food Processing flashcards

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

Water activity

Ratio of vapour pressure of food to that of pure water at the same temperature. Bacteria generally need aw above 0.90, while xerophilic moulds can grow near 0.65.

Atwater energy factors

Carbohydrate and protein supply about 4 kcal per gram, fat about 9 kcal per gram, and alcohol about 7 kcal per gram. These factors convert macronutrient mass into energy.

Maillard reaction

Non-enzymatic browning between a reducing sugar and an amino group, accelerated by heat and alkaline pH. It produces brown pigments and aroma compounds, and reduces available lysine.

Starch gelatinisation

Heating starch in water swells granules and leaches amylose, thickening the mixture. On cooling, amylose retrogrades and causes staling of bread and syneresis in gels.

PDCAAS and DIAAS

Protein quality scores. PDCAAS uses faecal digestibility and is truncated at 1.0, while DIAAS uses ileal digestibility and can exceed 1.0 for high-quality proteins.

Clostridium botulinum control

An anaerobic spore-former whose toxin causes botulism. Spores require a 12D process at 121.1 degrees Celsius in low-acid canned foods, while the toxin is destroyed by boiling.

HACCP seven principles

Hazard analysis, critical control point determination, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and record keeping. Prerequisite programmes such as GMP and GHP must be in place first.

Aflatoxin

A mycotoxin produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus in groundnuts and maize. It is hepatotoxic and carcinogenic, and its levels in food and feed are regulated.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors

Intrinsic factors are properties of the food such as pH, water activity and nutrients. Extrinsic factors are storage conditions such as temperature, humidity and gas atmosphere.

D-value

Decimal reduction time, the heating time at a given temperature that reduces a microbial population by 90 percent, that is, by one log cycle.

z-value

The temperature change in degrees Celsius required to change the D-value tenfold. A smaller z-value means the organism is more heat sensitive to temperature increases.

Constant-rate drying period

The initial drying stage when the surface remains wet and evaporation is controlled by external conditions such as air temperature, humidity and velocity. It ends at the critical moisture content.

Membrane pore size order

Membranes are classified from largest to smallest pore as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis. Each retains progressively smaller solutes and ions.

Coefficient of performance

For a refrigeration cycle, the ratio of refrigeration effect produced to work input. Higher values mean more cooling per unit of electrical energy consumed.

Commercial sterilisation

A heat process that inactivates Clostridium botulinum spores, typically above 100 degrees Celsius. Low-acid foods need pressure processing, while acid foods may be hot-filled.

Freeze drying

Lyophilisation removes water by sublimation of ice under vacuum after freezing. It preserves shape, flavour and nutrients well but is slow and energy intensive.

Hurdle technology

Combining several mild preservation factors such as low pH, low water activity, chilling and preservatives. The combined hurdles inhibit microorganisms while keeping sensory quality high.

Modified atmosphere packaging

Replacing package headspace gas with a controlled mixture, usually low oxygen and elevated carbon dioxide, to slow respiration, oxidation and microbial growth in perishable foods.

Jam gel formation

Jam sets when sugar, acid and pectin interact. Adequate soluble solids near 68 Brix, pH around 3.0 to 3.5, and sufficient pectin are needed for a firm gel.

Ice cream overrun

The percentage increase in volume caused by incorporated air, calculated as mix volume minus ice cream volume divided by ice cream volume, times one hundred.

Parboiling of paddy

Soaking, steaming and drying paddy before milling. It gelatinises starch, improves milling recovery, reduces broken grains, and retains more B vitamins in the grain.

Oil refining steps

Crude oil is refined by degumming, neutralisation of free fatty acids, bleaching of pigments, and deodorisation under vacuum to remove volatile odour compounds.

Sensory triangle test

A difference test in which panelists receive three coded samples, two identical and one different, and identify the odd sample. It detects whether a detectable difference exists.

Ingredient list order

Ingredients must be declared in descending order by weight at the time of manufacture. Additives are listed by class name and function, with allergens declared separately.

Codex Alimentarius

International food standards programme established by FAO and WHO. It provides reference standards for composition, additives, hygiene and labelling that national regulations often adopt.

Clean-in-place

A method of cleaning process equipment by circulating detergent and sanitiser without dismantling. Effectiveness depends on concentration, temperature, time and flow velocity.

Break-even quantity

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

Marketing mix

The four elements of product, price, place and promotion. For food businesses, distribution and cold chain strongly influence the place element and product quality.

Titratable acidity

Acidity measured by titrating a sample with standard sodium hydroxide to a phenolphthalein endpoint. It is expressed as percent acid using the appropriate equivalent weight.

Moisture by oven drying

A sample is dried at about 105 degrees Celsius to constant weight, cooled in a desiccator, and reweighed. Moisture is the weight loss expressed as a percentage of sample weight.

Colony count calculation

Count plates with 30 to 300 colonies, multiply by the dilution factor, and divide by the inoculum volume. The result is reported as colony forming units per millilitre or gram.