Dissertation
SHELF-LIFE STUDIES OF READY-TO-EAT MEALS IN HIGH BARRIER PACKAGING PROCESSED VIA MICROWAVE-ASSISTED THERMAL STERLISATION (MATS) SYSTEM
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2020
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/117943
Abstract
Microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) is an advanced food processing technology that uses unique 915 MHz frequency and water immersion for food sterilization. MATS uses polymeric pouches for in-package food processing as these polymer based packaging material are transparent to microwaves, unlike metal based packaging. Therefore, this study aimed to develop high barrier polymeric packages for MATS and conduct shelf-life analyses of ready to eat meals to obtain shelf life of 3-5 years. All three studies are designed to study the effect of MATS processing and compare high barrier metal oxide coated polymer-based package’s barrier properties with metal-based packaging on the RTE meals’ shelf-life. In the first study, oil and fat rich RTE mac & cheese recipe was selected and packaged into novel oxygen scavenger based and metal oxide coated high barrier polymer pouches. In the second study, aromatic garlic mash potatoes recipe was selected to study the effect of MATS processing and polymer packaging on the stability of garlic aroma. Oxygen scavenger pouch from the first study, along with two metal oxide coated pouches were selected for MATS processing. Both studies demonstrated that due to gentler processing effect of MATS compared to longer processing time of retort, food quality of MATS processed meal packaged in polymer pouches performed better or similar to aluminum-based pouch but in-package microwave thermal processing affected barrier properties of the polymer pouches significantly due to formation of cracks and pinholes which effected the food quality during the storage. \n To overcome the changes happening in the polymer pouches due to thermal processing, double metal oxide coated PET based package was developed for the third study. In this study, chicken pasta recipe was selected to study the influence of MATS processing on food quality parameters and on newly fabricated double-layer pouch. Based on the data, it was found that MATS had no significant effect (p>0.05) on barrier properties of double-layer pouch and this pouch showed similar performance as aluminum pouch in terms of food quality. \nThe findings of all three studies may be useful for U.S. Army and NASA’s extended duration space missions. This knowledge could also guide food industry to select right kind of packaging for a given kind of recipe.
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Details
- Title
- SHELF-LIFE STUDIES OF READY-TO-EAT MEALS IN HIGH BARRIER PACKAGING PROCESSED VIA MICROWAVE-ASSISTED THERMAL STERLISATION (MATS) SYSTEM
- Creators
- JUHI PATEL
- Contributors
- Shyam S Sablani (Advisor)Juming Tang (Committee Member)Carolyn F Ross (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Biological Systems Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 166
- Identifiers
- 99900581608501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation