DEVELOPMENT OF A RESTRUCTURED ALGINATE FOOD PARTICLE SUITABLE FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE SHORT-TIME PROCESS VALIDATION

Cylindrical particles of alginate and alginate/starch food puree were developed for use as carriers in a microbiological time temperature in tegrator (TTI). The mechanical properties of the restructured food par ticle, stress (sigma(f)) and strain at failure (epsilon(f)), were stud ied as a function of different composition parameters (alginate and fo od concentration, pH, type of food added, and addition of starch). Add ition of food puree produced gels that were weaker than pure alginate ones, although no differences in mechanical properties were obtained a mong the three levels of food puree concentration studied in this work . However, the type of food significantly affected these rheological p arameters, producing the weakest gel when artichoke puree was added to the alginate. The pH also affected the mechanical properties: the low er the pH, the weaker the particle. When starch was added the particle s developed could be frozen without losing their mechanical resistance and handling. The results indicated that particles containing 2% algi nate and 4% starch showed the best mechanical stability.