Effect of liquid nitrogen in packaging and formulation concepts in acid foods

Abstract

Chapter 1: The objective of the research was to eliminate paneling of the PET bottles due to hot filling. BBQ sauce was hot-filled at 54°C (130°F) in plastic PET, 567 g (20 oz) bottles. The PET bottles paneled, or were misshapen, due to the heat and pressure of hot-fill process. Liquid Nitrogen gas was used as a processing aid to optimize the headspace pressure to prevent paneling. The objective of the research was to eliminate paneling of the PET bottles due to hot-filling. A micro dosing system was used to inject nitrogen into the container just after filling and immediately prior to capping. Headspace pressure was measured using a custom-designed pressure sensor. Nitrogen dosage was plotted against headspace pressure. The relationship between nitrogen dosage and headspace pressure was linear, with a coefficient of determination of 0.84, a slope of, 4.24 kPa/ms, and an intercept of 12.45 kPa. Results were analyzed by using analysis of variance. Visual inspection of the bottles for defects resulted in the determination of the optimum headspace pressure of 30 kpa (4.4 psi).

Chapter 2: BBQ sauce formulated with sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was evaluated for consumer preferences. The objective of this study was to substitute sugar with HFCS and perform sensory evaluation. Five sensory parameters were evaluated using a 9-point hedonic rating scale to perform sensory analysis and determine the consumer preferences. SAS software version 9.2 was used to identify the nuances. It was determined that BBQ sauce formulated with either HFCS or sugar did not possess a significant difference.

Chapter 3: BBQ sauce made with sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was evaluated for color, over 13 weeks in ambient and oven temperatures (50°C). The objective of this work was to determine if there was a significant difference in color between formulations of BBQ sauce with sugar and HFCS initially and over time. Minolta colorimeter was used for the analysis. Results were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance. It was concluded that BBQ sauce made with HFCS or sugar did not have significant color difference initially or during the time period studied.