Particle Characterization
Food & Beverage Applications
Many food products exist in particulate form ranging from powders to emulsions, suspensions and pellets. The size distribution of the particulates can affect the taste, appearance, stability, processability, and functionality of the final product. Size reduction is a common unit operation required when processing many food products. Coffee, cocoa beans and cheese are milled using equipment often designed specifically for these materials. Food emulsions represent another application area where the size of the dispersed phase droplets impacts stability and taste. Emulsions often pass through mixers and homogenizers in order to create a specified droplet size.
Proper particle characterization of food products requires a range of analytical instrumentation. All of the HORIBA particle technologies have been successfully applied into the food industry including laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering, image analysis, and acoustic attenuation. Specific applications of particle size analysis in the food industry have been documented in the sections below.
Coffee
Coffee needs to be ground after roasting either at a central facility or closer to the point of consumption. The level of size reduction depends on several factors including the brewing method and desired flavor. Control of the particle size prior to brewing is critical but the measurement can be challenging depending on the instrument used. The HORIBA LA-950 Partica has the dynamic range required to analyze the entire distribution and the automatic control of the dry powder feeder needed to make robust, easy measurements.
Download the application note on particle size measurement of coffee (You need to be logged in).
Chocolate
Chocolate is a mixture of milk solids, cocoa powder and fats. Particle size of cocoa powder used in chocolate affects color and flavor strength. The industry refers to “mouth feel” as a gauge of acceptability or rejection. If the particles are too large, it will not have a consistent creamy taste. Particle size also affects the level of bitterness when tasted.
Download the application note on particle size measurement of chocolate (You need to be logged in).
Milk
Milk is an emulsion that is homogenized to reduce the average particle size, which improve its consistency and extends shelf life. The homogenization process is expensive and careful control of the process can improve quality and consistency and reduce operating costs.
HORIBA has extensive experience analyzing milk products using both laser diffraction and acoustics attenuation without dilution. The ability to apply these two technologies to emulsion samples puts HORIBA in a unique position when investigating new applications.
Download the application note on particle size measurement of milk using laser diffraction (You need to be logged in).
Download the application note on particle size measurement of milk using acoustic attenuation (You need to be logged in).
Sugar
Sugar is a basic food commodity where control of the particle size distribution is critical for consistent quality. Sieving has been the traditional test method for measuring the particle size of sugar. Although the initial capital expense of purchasing sieves may appear attractive the personnel expense can become significant when sample volume increases.
The CAMSIZER digital image analysis system provides a proven alternative to sieves for sugar analysis. Personnel expense is reduced while data quality and detail increases dramatically.
Download the application note on particle size measurement of sugar using digital image analysis (You need to be logged in).
Flour – Case Study
Flour is the product of milled grains. Typically the distribution is wide and the size varies depending on the desired final product. Flour particles have a tendency to swell when run wet. The solution is to use ethanol and a sequence program to automate the process as much as possible. When flours are run dry they will closely match wet data without the threat of the particles swelling. The wet vs. dry comparison shown below plots results from the same sample using these two different approaches on the LA-950 Partica system.
Pinto Bean Paste - Case Study
Bean paste is a milled bean product containing large sections of the seed coat along with varying sizes of ground cotyledons, the fleshy section of the bean. Particle size of these components has a direct effect on mouth feel, flavor, and consistency of the final product. To ensure a consistent product, a company should have some procedure to monitor and control size from batch to batch and facility to facility.
Pinto bean paste was measured on the LA-950 Partica system using the following test conditions:
Analytical Test Method
RI (particle): 1.50-0.10i
Dispersant fluid: De-ionized water with no surfactant
Sonication: None
Circulation speed: 3
Agitation speed: 4
Notes: Let circulate for 30 seconds to mix and stabilize before taking measurements.
- Discussion: To verify the LA-950 results, this sample was wet sieved at 1700 microns. The sample weight retained on the sieve was 3.1g from a 100g sample. The measured result on the LA-950 was 3.7% above 1700 microns, confirming the excellent performance of the instrument at larger sizes.
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