CHAPTER 5:

LOW TEMPERATURE
PROCESSING
Credit to:NOR ZANARIAH SAFIEI

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 OBJECTIVES

Grasp the general principle chilling, freezing and freeze

drying.
Define chilling, freezing and freeze drying
Discuss the application of freeze drying.

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 OVERVIEW…
Refrigeration is the process of removing heat from an
enclosed space.
Refrigerant - a special liquid that has capability to
evaporates at extremely low temperature.
Refrigeration start when refrigerant absorb heat from
food and indirectly evaporation occur. Refrigerant that
has been vaporized will be compressed back into liquid
form.

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 Type of refrigerant
Latent
bpoC/
MW Heat Flammable Pressure at 0oC Pressure at 50oC
760torr
kj/mole

NH3 17 -34 24 Yes 4atm 20atm

CO2 44 -78 25 No 35atm >>60atm

SO2 64 -10 25 No 2atm 9atm

CF2Cl 121 -30 22 No 3atm 12atm

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 PROCESSING BY THE REMOVAL
OF HEAT

Chilling
Freezing
Freeze Drying

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 CHILLING
• Chilling is the unit operation in which the temperature of a
food is reduced to between -1oC and 8oC.
• Critical warm zone (5oC to 60oC) where maximum growth of
microorganism.
• Used to reduce the rate of biochemical and microbiological
changes, hence extend the shelf life of fresh and processd
foods.
• “Retard” – due to at low temperature most of enzymes/m’os activities
occur at slow rate.

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• Three categories of chilled foods;
1) -1 to +1 C : fresh fish, meats, sausages and ground meats,
smoked meats and breaded fish
2) 0 - +5 C : pasteurised canned meat, milk, cream, yoghurt,
prepared salads, sandwiches, baked goods, fresh pasta, fresh
soups and sauces, pizzas, pastries and unbaked dough
3) 0 – 8C : fully cooked meats and fish pies, cooked or
uncooked cured meats, butter, margarine, hard cheese, cooked
rice, fruit juices and soft fruits

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• The successful supply of chilled foods to the consumer is
heavily dependent on sophisticated and relatively
expensive distribution systems which involve chill stores,
refrigerated transport and retail chill display cabinets,
together with widespread ownership of domestic
refrigerators.
• Precise temperature control is essential at all stages to
avoid the risk of food spoilage or food poisoning
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FRESH FOODS
• The rate of biochemical changes caused by either micro-
organisms or naturally occurring enzymes increases
logarithmically with temperature.
• Chilling therefore reduces the rate of enzymic and
microbiological change and retards respiration of fresh
foods.

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 CHILLING:FRESH FOOD

The factors that control the shelf life of fresh crops in chill storage include:
• the type of food and variety or cultivar
• the part of the crop selected (the fastest growing parts have the highest
metabolic rates and the shortest storage lives)
• the condition of the food at harvest (for example the presence of
mechanical damage or microbial contamination, and the degree of
maturity)
• the temperature of harvest, storage, distribution and retail display
• the relative humidity of the storage atmosphere, which influences
dehydration losses.

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• Chilling injury : These crops are injured by low, but non
freezing, temperatures. At these temperatures, the
tissues weaken because they are unable to carry on
normal metabolic processes.
• Symptoms : surface pitting, discoloration, internal
breakdown, failure to ripen, growth inhibition, wilting,
loss of flavor, and decay.

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Chilling injury

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 CHILL:PROCESSED FOODS

• A reduction in temperature below the minimum necessary for

microbial growth extends the generation time of micro-
organisms and in effect prevents or retards reproduction.
• Chilling prevents the growth of thermophilic and many
mesophilic micro-organisms. The main microbiological
concerns with chilled foods are a number of pathogens that
can grow during extended refrigerated storage below 5ºC, or
as a result of any increase in temperature (temperature abuse)
and thus cause food poisoning.

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 CHILLED FOODS
MO’s categories Minimum Optimum
(°C ) (°C )
thermophilic 30 - 40 55 - 65

mesophilic 5 - 10 30 - 40

psychrotrophic <0 - 5 20 - 30

psychrophilic <0 - 5 12 - 18

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 CHILLING…

• For optimum shelf life, chilling may combined with others

food processing:-
• Controlled/modified atmosphere storage
• Vacuum Packaging
• Hurdle technology (pasteurization, chemical
preservatives, packaging, storing etc).

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CHILLED PRODUCTS

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 EQUIPMENT

• Chilling equipment is classified by the method used to remove

heat, into:
• mechanical refrigerators
• cryogenic systems.
• Batch or continuous operation is possible with both types of
equipment, but all should lower the temperature of the
product as quickly as possible through the critical warm zone
(50–10ºC) where maximum growth of micro-organisms occurs.
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 4 MAIN COMPONENTS

• Mechanical refrigerators have four basic elements: an

evaporator, a compressor, a condenser and an expansion
valve.
• Components of refrigerators are frequently constructed
from copper as the low thermal conductivity, which
allows high rates of heat transfer and high thermal
efficiencies.

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 REFRIGERATOR CONCEPT

• In the evaporator the liquid refrigerant evaporates under

reduced pressure, and in doing so absorbs latent heat of
vaporisation and cools the freezing medium.
• Refrigerant vapour passes from the evaporator to the
compressor where the pressure is increase.
• The vapour then passes to the condenser where the high
pressure is maintained and the vapour is condensed.
• The liquid passes through the expansion valve where the
pressure is reduced to restart the refrigeration cycle.
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 FREEZING…
• Water freezes when the molecules have slowed down
enough to develop bonds upon collision. The rate at
which freezing occurs is governed by nucleation and
growth.
• Nucleation is the formation of small solids in a liquid.
This small solids are called the nuclei. Once the nuclei
have form, they become the landing side for other
molecules to attach onto.
• Growth rate – is the radius of nuclei growth.
• Solidification rate is determined by the combination of
nucleation and growth rate.
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 FREEZING

• Freezing is the unit operation in which the temperature of

a food is reduced below its freezing point and a
proportion of the water undergoes a change in state to
form ice crystals.
• Preservation is achieved by a combination of low
temperatures, reduced water activity and, in some foods,
pre-treatment by blanching.

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There are only small changes to nutritional or sensory qualities of foods when correct freezing
and storage procedures are followed.
The major groups of commercially frozen foods are as follows:
• • fruits (strawberries, oranges, raspberries, blackcurrants) either whole or pure´ed, or as
juice concentrates
• • vegetables (peas, green beans, sweetcorn, spinach, sprouts and potatoes)
• • fish fillets and seafoods (cod, plaice, shrimps and crab meat) including fish fingers, fish
cakes or prepared dishes with an accompanying sauce
• • meats (beef, lamb, poultry) as carcasses, boxed joints or cubes, and meat products
(sausages, beefburgers, reformed steaks)
• • baked goods (bread, cakes, fruit and meat pies)
• • prepared foods (pizzas, desserts, ice cream, complete meals and cook–freeze dishes).

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• During freezing, sensible heat is first removed to lower
the temperature of a food to the freezing point. In fresh
foods, heat produced by respiration is also removed.
• . Most foods contain a large proportion of water (Table
21.1), which has a high specific heat (4200 J/kg.K) and a
high latent heat of crystallisation (335 Kj/kg).

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• A substantial amount of energy is therefore needed to
remove latent heat, form ice crystals and hence to freeze
foods.

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 FREEZING…
• Freezing point of water at sea level is 0oC.
• If impurities is added (e.g. salt), freezing point will be
lowered. This concept is applied in ice-cream industries.
• Brine solution (salt-water solution, i.e. potassium
chloride act as refrigerant) used to reduce ice cream
temperature up to -5oC, and brine temperature itself is
about -26oC.
• Impurities avoid complete freezing of ice-cream thus
allowing retains the characteristic soft texture.

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 FREEZING…
• Example of frozen foods – ice cream,
meat/carcass like poultry, fish, and etc.
• Not all food suitable to be stored under
freezing condition. Similar with chilling
where some fruits and vegetables show
characteristics of chilling injury.
• Attention should be given when thawing
frozen food. Use water for thawing.
• Avoid repeat freezing, thawing, freezing,
since texture of food may damage.

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Frozen products

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 EQUIPMENT

• Freezers are broadly categorised into:

• • mechanical refrigerators, which evaporate and
compress a refrigerant in a continuous cycle and use
cooled air, cooled liquid or cooled surfaces to remove
heat from foods.
• • cryogenic freezers, which use solid or liquid carbon
dioxide, liquid nitrogen (or until recently, liquid Freon)
directly in contact with the food.

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Cooled-air freezers
• chest freezers food is frozen in stationary (natural-circulation)
air at between -20ºC and -30ºC.
• Cold stores are used to freeze carcass meat, to store foods
that are frozen by other methods, and as hardening rooms for
ice cream.
• In blast freezers, air is recirculated over food at between -30ºC
and -40ºC at a velocity of 1.5–6.0 m s-1. The high air velocity
reduces the thickness of boundary films surrounding the food
and thus increases the surface heat transfer coefficient.
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Spiral freezer

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SPIRAL, WIND TUNNEL FREEZER.

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FREEZE DRYING (LYOPHILISATION)

• Freeze drying involves the removal of water or other

solvent from a frozen product by a process called
sublimation.
• Sublimation occurs when a frozen liquid goes directly to
the gaseous state without passing through the liquid
phase.
• Advantage???

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 FREEZE CONCENTRATION

• The heat used to dry foods or concentrate liquids by boiling

removes water and therefore preserves the food by a
reduction in water activity.
• However, the heat also causes a loss of sensory characteristics
and nutritional qualities.
• In freeze drying and freeze concentration a similar
preservative effect is achieved by reduction in water activity
without heating the food, and as a result nutritional qualities
and sensory characteristics are better retained.

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• Freeze drying is the one of important operations
commercially and is used to dry expensive foods which
have delicate aromas or textures (for example coffee,
mushrooms, herbs and spices, fruit juices, meat,
seafoods, vegetables and complete meals for military
rations or expeditions) for which consumers are willing to
pay higher prices for superior quality.

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If a water pressure of a food is held below 4.58 Torr(610.5 Pa) and
frozen, when heat is introduced, solid ice sublimes directly to 49

vapour without entering liquid phase.

 FREEZE DRYING…

• Process steps:-
• Freezing
• Vacuum
• Heat
• Condensation
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 FREEZE DRYING
1. Freezing: The product is frozen. This provides a necessary
condition for low temperature drying.

2. Vacuum: After freezing, the product is placed under

vacuum. This enables the frozen solvent in the product to
vaporize without passing through the liquid phase, a
process known as sublimation.

3. Heat: Heat is applied to the frozen product to accelerate

sublimation.

4. Condensation: Low-temperature condenser plates remove

the vaporized solvent from the vacuum chamber by
converting it back to a liquid. This completes the separation
process.

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Freeze drying

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Freeze dried

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Freeze dried

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FREEZE DRIED PRODUCTS

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 END OF
CHAPTER 5

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