How important are homogenizers in the FMCG industry?

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HOW IMPORTANT ARE HOMOGENIZERS IN
THE FMCG INDUSTRY
An Academic presentation by Dr. Nancy Agnes,
Head, Technical Operations, FoodResearchLab
Group www.foodresearchlab.com Email
info_at_foodresearchlab.com
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Today's Discussion
OUTLINE Introduction Pasteurization
Homogenization Types of Homogenizer Key Function
of Homogenizers
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Introduction

• Corona Virus pandemic has disconnected people
  from their regular life, travelling, going to a
  restaurant and even visiting a grocery store is a
  no go.
• Consumers are ordering their daily bread and
  butter online and it gets delivered mostly on the
  same day or the next days.
• The person responsible for your food to be stable
  for a length of time (shelf life) is Louis
  Pasteur.
• Contd...

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Moreover, the method of preservation was called
Pasteurization, named after him. Pasteurization
kills the pathogens or spoilage microorganisms
present in the food and it involves two things,
temperature and time. The milk is pasteurized in
the vat at 70 ? for 30 minutes or at 80 ? for 25
seconds. Contd...
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This is called High-Temperature short-time
pasteurization (HTST).

• Pasteurization does not reduce any nutritional
  value of the milk, which is a commonly asked
  question.

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Pasteurization
Pasteurization can also be done using water
tanks. Liquid and non-solid items can be
sterilized using a large tank filled with
water. Once the package is loaded into the tank,
pressure is applied with the help of giant
pumps. The applied pressure changes the foods
cell structure which inhibits cell division and
destroys microorganisms. Contd...
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Using this technique, various processed and
ready to eat foods such as fruit and vegetable
juices, salsa, dressings, meat products
etc. Another advantage of using this method is
that the water tank method is capable of
processing a lot of food in every batch, making
it an affordable operation for
manufacturers. However, some studies have shown
that the pasteurization process has compromised
the flavour aspect of the food or specifically
in the context of milk. Contd...
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The pasteurization process does not kill all the
bacteria present in the milk, but only the
harmful bacteria. Over the years, the
pasteurization process has gained higher demand
and increased usage. Having said all this, the
pasteurization process is still better than
thermal sterilization, particularly concerning
nutrient composition. These days more food
industries are starting to use high-pressure
processing which effectively removes most of the
pathogens, harmful spoilage microorganisms and
extends the shelf life significantly.
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Homogenization
You might have also seen milk products labelled
as HOMOGENISED milk, how different are they milk
from pasteurized milk. Milk homogenization is a
different step and usually happens after the
pasteurization. High-pressure homogenizers in
food industry will aid in delivering Nano or
microemulsions, dispersions, suspension and
lipids. Homogenization aids in breaking down the
fat in milk and stops the fat-water
separation. Contd...
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If the homogenization step is skipped, then fat
molecules present in milk rise to the top of the
container, giving a very bad visual appeal to the
end customer. Combining homogenization with
pasteurization allows manufacturers to
effectively manage their resources which could
be served to the customers and reduces the
overall waste in the process. Homogenization can
be used for a variety of products in the food,
pharmaceutical and chemical industry for
instance, vaccinations, anaesthetics and
injections in pharmaceutical inclinations. Contd..
.
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Types of Homogenizer
There are three common types of homogenizers,
which are rotor generator, high pressure (with
piston pump) and sonic disruptors in FMCG
industry. Rotor homogenizers are capable of
delivering large quantities of material
processed using long shafts which have angled
knives at the bottom. The knives shred the
material into fine particles and then drawn up
into a stator tip and ejected into the
side. Contd...
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This model is capable of handling plant and
animal tissue and usually homogenized within 60
seconds. Liquids and semi-solids can be
pasteurized with high-pressure homogenizers which
push the product through a series of tubes. A
hydraulic pump creates enough pressure while
pushing them through the tubes and sterilizes
them at 1500 bar with continuous scale. Once
this stage is complete, the product exits through
a small orifice with a drop in pressure which
forces cell rupture and tearing the product into
equal sizes which can then be equally
mixed. Contd...
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Sonic disruptors reduce the breakup particles
with the aid of disruptors by generating
ultrasonic waves between 18 to 50 kHz (inaudible
to the human ear). These sonic wavelengths are ca
pable of exerting 500 atmospheres of pressure with
temperatures rising to 5000 ?. Under
appropriate conditions, the pressure waves cause
microscopic bubbles to form which grows and
collapses violently after a certain
point. This implosion creates a shock wave that b
reaks the cell membrane, with reduced particle
size.
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Key Function of Homogenizers
The first and foremost functionality is
preventing the separation of the top layer of
cream from the rest during new product
development. This aids in obtaining a longer
shelf life and retains the finest quality, which
benefits both dairy manufacturers and customers
when milk is harder to find at a store,
especially during a pandemic. Contd...
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Scientist and food manufactures are working to
make new product categories which can eliminate
trans-fat, reduced sugar and low sodium content
to balance nutrient content and to achieve
customer satisfaction. An optimal mixing
protocol needs to be achieved for each emulsion,
lipids and dispersion at an economical
value. The manufacturer will develop the mixing
protocol based on the product characteristic and
the basic requirement for the product so that it
is consistent with taste, colour and
appearance. Contd...
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Quite a significant number of factors are
considered and attributed to foods, such as
particle size and consistency, which has an
impact on food quality, stability and shelf
life. To achieve improved food processing
results, this will in turn increase the sales of
the product. For instance, a few years ago
tomato juice showed improved consistency and
viscosity because of the high shear
homogenization achieved. Contd...
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Secondly, this processing method also aids in
food preservation, which increases the high level
of function over traditional thermal processing
methods. Extended shelf life is achieved by high
shear along with heat kills the harmful
microorganisms. This method also destroys some
nutrients from the food. However, one
alternative to this is pressure homogenization
which makes them ready to be used. Contd...
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Thirdly, the quality of a food product and its
freshness is linked to food stability (molecular
level). The high-pressure shear homogenizer
leads to better chemical stability in most
foods, which provides longer periods of
freshness compared to foods with larger
molecular size.
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