Improving the technology for manufacturing food additives, starches and starch products using infrared radiation

The paper considers the problems of physical modification of starch products and other food ingredients. The main trends and directions of innovative activity characteristic of the ingredient market have been described. As a result of the experiments, a method for modifying starches, starch products and complex food additives has been developed to improve their microbiological, physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics. It has been proven that when exposed to infrared radiation with a wavelength of 7–10 microns on a layer of a product 1 cm thick for 1 minute, the number of mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms in such a product is reduced to zero. At the same time, the mass fraction of reducing substances as a result of such treatment more than doubles, which indicates the occurrence of the dextrinization process. It is possible to process both starch products that act as carriers in complex mixtures and ready-made additives after completion of the mixing process. The mass fraction of moisture during infrared processing decreases by less than 1 % for maltodextrins and by less than 2 % for complex food additives, which characterizes the resulting technological losses as acceptable. Changing the granulometric composition of complex additives under the influence of infrared radiation improves the flowability of the product, increases the uniformity of distribution of flavoring substances over the surface of the carrier, which in turn makes it possible to reduce the dosage of complex additives in the manufacture of meat and confectionery products. Based on the results obtained, technological diagrams have been developed and described showing the production process step by step, indicating all significant parameters.