Romain Jeantet, Thomas Croguennec, Pierre Schuck, Gerard Brule (ed.) Handbook of Food Science and Technology (3 volume set)

ISTE Ltd., 2016. – 266 + 347 + 439 pp.This third volume in the Handbook of Food Science and Technology Set explains the processing of raw materials into traditional food (bread, wine, cheese, etc.). The agrifood industry has evolved in order to meet new market expectations of its products; with the use of separation and assembly technologies, food technologists and engineers now increasingly understand and control the preparation of a large diversity of ingredients using additional properties to move from the raw materials into new food products.
Taking into account the fundamental basis and technological specificities of the main food sectors, throughout the three parts of this book, the authors investigate the biological and biochemical conversions and physicochemical treatment of food from animal sources, plant sources and food ingredients.Vol. 1. Food Alteration and Food Quality
The first concern of primitive people was to find food in their immediate environment to meet their physiological needs to survive; with no knowledge of either their requirements or the properties of food products, whether they were of plant or animal origin, these food choices were based on very empirical observations. The development of agriculture and livestock farming gradually gave people greater control in procuring food compared to the randomness of gathering, hunting and fishing. However, the supply of agricultural and livestock products has long been highly irregular for reasons of climate, diseases or simply the seasonal nature of certain products. Due to this irregularity, and in order to meet the needs of people located far from production areas, man has always been in search of ways to preserve food, thereby creating the possibility of varying the time and place of consumption of agricultural products.Vol. 2. Food Process Engineering and Packaging
Food is a complex and heterogeneous system. It often consists of a protein and/or polysaccharide matrix surrounding, sustaining a typically aqueous continuous phase containing soluble hydrophilic compounds (carbohydrates, salts, vitamins, etc.) and some dispersed elements (cells, fat globules, gas bubbles, crystals, etc.). Such a system is thermodynamically, biologically and chemically very unstable.
The dispersed elements are subject to forces that cause phase separations either by sedimentation when the density of dispersed elements is greater than that of the dispersing phase, or by creaming when the opposite applies. Chemical potential or pressure gradients exerted on either side of the interfaces can induce the transfer of solutes and structural changes (coalescence, plasmolysis). This physicochemical instability can be increased by mechanical and thermal stresses on products during storage (refrigeration, freezing) and preparation (defrosting, reheating, etc.).
Protein and polysaccharide polymers that contribute significantly to the structuring of food are likely to reorganise during storage because of the influence of temperature on hydrophobic, ionic and hydrogen interactions. As described in Volume 1, recrystallization is sometimes accompanied by the release and migration of water with textural changes (starch retrogradation and bread staling).
Biological agents, enzymes and microorganisms find suitable conditions for their action and development in most foods both in terms of physicochemical conditions (pH, water activity aw and temperature) as well as availability of substrates and growth factors. Lipolysis, proteolysis and oxidation reactions, metabolite production (acid, alcohol, gas), the development of pathogenic flora and the release of toxins are all elements that negatively affect the sensory, safety and nutritional quality of food, as has already been demonstrated in the past. The same applies for chemical reactions (Maillard reaction, lipid autoxidation).Vol. 3. Food Biochemistry and Technology
The processing into food of raw materials from hunting, gathering, fishing and subsequently arable and livestock farming has always had two objectives: to preserve nutrients in order to defer the time and place of consumption, and develop products with a wide variety of textures and flavors to satisfy the sensory needs of consumers. The development of arable and livestock farming has facilitated an improved control of supply, even though the provision of agricultural products has long remained very irregular due to climatic or health risks and the seasonality of certain products. Furthermore, the importance of stabilization and/or processing has significantly increased with the rural exodus, which has led to a distancing of production from consumption areas.
The production of certain foods that still form the basis of our diet today dates back several centuries or even millennia, as in the case of bread, cheese and wine for example. These products, particularly those derived from fermentation, were developed based on empirical observations, with no knowledge of the raw materials or phenomena involved in their processing. It was not until the work of Pasteur in the 19th Century that microorganisms gained a key role in the development and processing of agricultural products.
The agri-food industry has undergone a major change over the past few decades in order to better meet the quality requirements of consumers; while traditional food is the result of a series of increasingly understood and controlled biological and physicochemical phenomena, this is not the case for a number of new products designed to meet market expectations. These products are the result of an assembly of various ingredients, the control of which is a real challenge for food technologists and engineers.