Thermal Processing

CHE192-2
FOOD ENGINEERING UNIT OPERATIONS B
 Thermal Processing

Combination of heat and length of time to process a

certain food product
Meaningfully complete if temperature and length of
heating is specified
Process is adequate if it falls on the curve
Expect spoilage if it falls under the curve
Tin Can Seal
Can Seam
 Thermal Processing

Adequate process curve

T oC inadequate

time
 Thermal Processing

2 parameters of heat treatment

Microorganisms inherently found in the food
Ensure that microorganisms are eliminated or
destroyed upon heat treatment (change in resistance
characteristics)
Ensure that food receives necessary temperature
treatment
 Thermal Processing

Objective:
To kill both pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms
by heat
 Heat Penetration Study

Determination of heat transfer characteristics of a

system including the food
 Heat Resistance

Pathogens and its spores have lower heat resistance

than that of spoilage microorganisms
Resistance of spoilage microorganisms is low
compared to thermophiles
A pure culture is needed to establish the heat
resistance of an organism
 Microbial Death

Result of the severity of the heat treatment (agent of

destruction)
Death in microorganisms occur when reproduction
ceases
Also logarithmic in nature
 Logarithmic Order of Death

Under constant temperature, the same percentage of

the bacterial population will be destroyed in a given
time interval regardless of the size of the surviving
population
Not a function of the starting number of
microorganisms in a system
 Logarithmic Order of Death

This is always the same percentage

90% destroyed or 10% remaining
 Logarithmic Order of Death

Product A Product B
1min 1012 spores/gram 108 spores/gram 1min
1min 1011 109 1min
. .
. D=___min D=___min .
. .

100 spores/gram
100 spores/gram
 D value

Length of heating time at or constant temperature

required for a given population to be reduced by 90%
Affected by temperature and pH
Increase ToC = shorter processing time
pH has a more profound effect influence on heat
resistance
 D value

Decrease in pH = shorter processing time

The higher the D value for a heat treatment, the
more resistant is the target microorganism
Thermophilic spores have very high D values
Decimal reduction rate
 D value

Defined as the length of time in minutes, at a

specified temperature, required to destroy 90% of
the organisms in a population
Decreases the surviving population to 1/10th of the
original number
The time of heating in minutes required for the death
rate curve to traverse one logarithmic cycle
 Death Rate Curve

104 Use a semi-log paper

Logarithmic 103
number of D
survivors 102

101

100
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time in minutes at constant ToC
 Sample Problem

If a can of meat contains 100 spores and there are

106 cans, how many cans are likely to spoil (i.e. not
sterile) if the heat treatment employed is equivalent
to 7D?
 Phantom
Thermal Death Time Curve

103

102
D value z
min 101

100

10-1
220 240 260 oF/oC
 z value

The number of oF that will allow the heating process

to traverse one logarithmic cycle
Measures the change in thermal death time or death
rate with temperature
The number of oF that will bring about a ten-fold
change in the death time or death rate
 z value

Temperature, oF D value, min

220 10
230 5
240 3
250 1
260 0.3
What is the z value in this case?
 z value

Temperature, oF D value, min

232 10
250 1
268 0.1

What is the z value in this case?

 D and z values

Describe the heat resistance of microorganisms

The greater the spore concentration, the more heat
required to kill them
 Phantom
Thermal Death Time Curve
Called as such because it gives no position as to the
actual number of microorganisms
 Sample Problem

A thermal resistance study of Byssochlamys fulva

spores mango juice (30o Brix) gave data below.
What would be the lethality at 212oF which would
reduce the spore population from 106 to 100?
D190 = 11.5 min
z = 16oF
Solution: Construct a PTDTC
 D at 212oF

Approximately 0.5 min

 F value

Lethality of the process

Any multiple of the D value
The number of minutes required to destroy a given
number of organisms at a given temperature
Sterilizing value of the process and thermal death of
the organism
Idealized process
 F value

F0 assumed that processing is at 250oF

F0 = mDr = F of most heat-resistant spoilage
organism found in food
m = order of the process factor
m = number of logarithmic cycles through which the
D value is reduced
 F value

m = 12 if target organism is C. botulinum in low acid

foods
D = 0.21 min at 250oF for C. botulinum
F = ____________________
 m value

m may be arbitrary but in the food industry

m = 12 in the food industry
m = 7 in ordinary food production of low acid foods
Representative heat resistance of
microorganism
If temperature vs. F will be plotted, the z value
would be the same as what would be obtained
from the PTDTC
 Commercial sterility

Even before 100 viable cell germinates and cause

spoilage, the food is already considered commercially
sterile
1012 100
 Commercial sterility

For C. botulinum, F0 = 3 min

For PA 3679 Dr = 1.5 min, if m=7
F0 = 7(1.5 min) = _____ min
F process greater than reference F
Therefore, the heat process for low acid products are
based on heat resistance of spoilage organisms
 F value

Describes the heat resistance characteristics of

microorganisms
Represents the value of heating
Describes the process which is being targeted to
destroy microorganisms
 2 ways of determining the lethal
value of a process at a certain
temperature

1. Lethal Rate (LR)

1
LR = --------------------------
antilog [(RT-CT)/z]
Where RT = retort temperature
CT = cold point temperature
2 ways of determining the lethal
value of a process at a certain
temperature

2. Construct a true thermal death time curve of

target microorganism (heat resistance
characteristic of microorganism)
 True Thermal Death Time Curve

103 Need 2 reference

temperatures to
102 construct plot
Heating time
min 101

100

10-1
220 240 260 oF/oC
 Lethal value of a process

At a certain temperature, how long would it take for

microorganisms to be reduced to a certain number?
A unit of 1 is given as the lethality at a given
processing temperature
TDT parameters are z and F values (z = 18oF for low
acid products)
TTDTC has position through actual number of
microorganisms
 Lethal value of a process

If Fp (process) = F0, process is adequate to destroy

target organism
If Fp < F0, product is likely to be inadequately
processed therefore processing time should be
lengthened
If Fp > F0, processing is okay but processing time
may be reduced to avoid affecting sensory attributes
of the food product
 Lethal value of a process

CASE: If time interval is not constant, plot a

lethality curve using a linear graphing paper
[heating time (x) vs. lethal rate (y)]
True only if processing
1.0 Temperature was reached

Lethal rate
L.R.
Lethality
of the
process

Heating time at 250oF processing temperature

 Lethal value of a process

Other possibilities

1.0

Lethal rate
L.R.

Heating time at 250oF processing temperature

 Lethal value of a process

If values of LR are more than 4 decimal places =

ignore, this would only be significant for long
processing times
To make F0 = Fp, solve graphically
Heat process should not negatively affect the sensory
characteristics
Arrive at a recommended process if physico-
chemical characteristics and other tests are not in
conformance
 Comparative Heat Resistance of Bacteria,
Yeasts and Molds in Canned Products
Approx range of
Bacterial groups heat resistance
D z
Low-acid and semi-acid foods (pH above 4.5)
Thermophiles (spores) D250
Flat-sour group B.stearothermophilus (FS 1518) 4.0-5.0 14-22
Gaseous spoilage group C. thermosaccharolyticum 3.0-4.0 16-22
Sulfide stinkers C. nigrificans 2.0-3.0 16-22
Mesophiles (spores)
Putrefactive anaerobes
C. botulinum (types A and B) 0.10-0.20 14-18
C. sporogenes grp. (inc. PA 3679) 0.10-0.15 14-18
 Comparative Heat Resistance of
Bacteria, Yeasts and Molds in Canned
Products

Approx range of
Bacterial groups heat resistance
D z
Acid foods (pH 4.0 4.5)
Thermophiles (spores)
B.coagulans (facultatively mesophilic) 0.01-0.07 14-18
Mesophiles (spores) D212
B. polymyxa and B. macerans 0.10-0.50 12-16
Butyric anaerobes (C. pasteurianum) 0.1-0.50 12-16
 Comparative Heat Resistance of
Bacteria, Yeasts and Molds in Canned
Products

Approx range of
Bacterial groups heat resistance
D z
High-acid foods (pH 4.0 and below)
Mesophilic non-spore-bearing bacteria D150
Lactobacillus spp., Leuconostc spp., and yeasts and 0.50-1.00 8-10
molds
 Question to Ponder on

How do you get D212 from

D250?
 Sample Problem

Heat penetration data for pork dinuguan in 307

x 201 (1F) cans and processed at steady
temperature of 250oF are shown below.
Determine the lethal rate of each temperature
and the lethality of the process at a z=18oF.
Determine the adequacy of the heat process if
the reference organism PA 3679 has a D250 =
0.47 min. The target level of spoilage is 1 can in
100,000 cans, i.e., the order-of-the-process is 5.
Steam-off and cooling began at the end of the
14th minute
Time (minutes) Temperature (oF)
0 180
1 182
2 184
3 204
4 220
5 238
6 242
7 245
8 246
9 248
10 248
11 249
12 249
13 249
14 *** 249
15 *** 247
16 239
17 220
Time (minutes) Temperature (oF)
18 200
19 195
20 190
21 188
22 186
23 184
24 180
25 170
26 165
27 153
28 147
29 139
30 130
31 121
32 114
33 105