WBBSE Madhyamik Food Processing (Vocational) flashcards

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

Food processing definition

Any deliberate operation that converts a raw agricultural commodity into a stable, edible, and marketable product, including cleaning, heating, drying, freezing, and packaging.

Water activity

The equilibrium relative humidity of a food divided by 100, indicating free water available for microbial growth; most bacteria need above 0.90 and growth generally stops below 0.60.

Maillard reaction

Non-enzymatic browning between reducing sugars and amino groups on heating, which develops desirable colour and flavour but destroys the amino acid lysine.

Cereal grain structure

Bran, endosperm, and germ. Bran is the outer protective layer, endosperm is the starchy main milling yield, and germ is the oil-rich embryo.

Climacteric fruit

Fruit such as banana, mango, tomato, or apple that ripens with a burst of ethylene and respiration and can continue ripening after harvest.

Pulse antinutritional factors

Compounds such as trypsin inhibitors and lectins in dry legume seeds that reduce protein digestion and are largely destroyed by soaking and thorough cooking.

Maturity index

A measurable harvest criterion such as total soluble solids, acidity, firmness, colour, or days from anthesis used to decide when to harvest produce for best quality.

Pasteurisation

Heat treatment below 100 degrees C, for example 63 degrees C for 30 minutes or 72 degrees C for 15 seconds, that kills vegetative pathogens but does not sterilise the food.

Commercial sterilisation

Canning heat treatment sufficient to inactivate Clostridium botulinum spores, commonly an F0 of 3 minutes at 121.1 degrees C for low-acid foods.

Case hardening

A drying defect where the surface dries too fast and hardens, trapping moisture inside the piece and slowing further drying.

Hurdle technology

Combining several mild preservation factors, such as low pH, low water activity, refrigeration, and modified atmosphere, so no single factor needs to be severe.

Roller milling

A cereal milling system using paired fluted and smooth rolls with sifting between passes to separate bran, germ, and endosperm into graded flour streams.

Homogenisation

A high-shear process that breaks fat globules into very small droplets, producing a stable emulsion such as homogenised milk and preventing cream separation.

Mass balance

A calculation stating that input mass equals output mass plus losses, used to compute yield as product mass divided by raw material mass times 100.

Multiple-effect evaporator

An evaporation system where vapour from one effect heats the next, reducing steam consumption per kilogram of water removed compared with a single effect.

Modified atmosphere packaging

Packaging in which air is replaced by a gas mixture, commonly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, to slow respiration and microbial growth and extend shelf life.

Aseptic packaging

A system that sterilises product and packaging separately and fills under sterile conditions, giving long ambient shelf life to UHT milk and juices.

Ingredient list rule

Label requirement listing all ingredients in descending order of weight, together with allergens, net quantity, manufacturer details, batch code, and dates.

First in, first out

A stock rotation rule under which the oldest stored material is issued and used first, limiting spoilage and expiry losses in stores.

HACCP principles

Seven principles: hazard analysis, determination of critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and record keeping.

Sanitation order

Cleaning to remove soil with detergent, followed by disinfection to reduce microorganisms with heat or chemical sanitisers; cleaning must always precede disinfection.

Quality assurance versus control

Quality assurance is the planned system of standards, audits, and documentation that builds quality in; quality control is inspection and testing of product against specifications.

Intrinsic food factors

Properties of the food itself that govern microbial growth: pH, water activity, redox potential, nutrient content, antimicrobial constituents, and physical structure.

Flat sour spoilage

Canned food spoilage by Bacillus species that produces acid without gas, so the can remains flat while the contents turn sour.

Lactic acid fermentation

Preservation and transformation of food by lactic acid bacteria, which convert sugars to acid and lower pH in curd, pickle, and sauerkraut.

Food additive definition

A substance added intentionally for a technological function such as preservation, colour, or texture, permitted only when safe and declared on the label.

Energy values

Metabolisable energy supplied by nutrients: about 4 kcal per gram for carbohydrate and protein and about 9 kcal per gram for fat.

Hedonic scale

A sensory scoring scale, commonly nine points from dislike extremely to like extremely, used to rate overall acceptability of a food product.

Break-even quantity

The output at which total revenue equals total cost, computed as fixed cost divided by selling price per unit minus variable cost per unit.

Working capital

Funds for day-to-day operation such as raw material, wages, power, and packaging, calculated as current assets minus current liabilities.

Moisture determination

Oven drying a weighed sample at 105 degrees C to constant weight, cooling in a desiccator, and calculating moisture as mass lost divided by initial mass times 100.

Total soluble solids

The concentration of dissolved solids in a juice or extract, measured with a refractometer and reported in degrees Brix, used as a maturity and quality index.