Module – IV- Extrusion processing and application potential

Sub Topic-1: Breakfast cereals manufacturing process

Definition
Breakfast cereals have been defined as processed grains for human consumption. One or
more of the cereal grains or milled fractions therefore are indeed major constituents of all
breakfast cereals, approaching 100% in the case of cereals for cooking. The proportion drops
well below this in many ready-to-eat cereals, and to less than 50% in pre-sweetened products.
They are made primarily from corn, wheat, oats, or rice and usually with added flavour and
fortifying ingredients.
Classification
Ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals are made primarily from corn, wheat, oats or rice usually with
added flavour and fortifying ingredients. Breakfast cereals are classified into two major
categories: hot cereals and RTE cereals
Hot cereals are made primarily from oats or wheat nevertheless; hot cereals from corn or rice
are produced in relatively small quantities. Hot cereals require cooking at home before they
are ready for consumption with the addition of either hot water or milk.
The processing of RTE cereals involves first cooking the grains with flavouring material and
sweeteners. Sometimes more heat stable nutritional fortifying agents are added before
cooking. Most RTE cereals are grouped into eight general categories:
1. Flaked cereals
2. Gun-puffed cereals
3. Extruded gun puffed cereals
4. Shredded whole grains
5. Extruded and other shredded cereals
6. Oven puffed cereals
7. Granola cereals
8. Extruded expanded cereals
Manufacturing Processes for Breakfast Cereals
The proprietary nature of the breakfast cereal industry limits the information base to patent
records and publications by individuals not directly associated with industry. In broad terms,
breakfast cereal ingredients may be classified as grains or grain products,
sweeteners, flavouring, texturizing ingredients, and micro-ingredients for nutritional
fortification and preservation. The processing of ready-to-eat cereals typically involves first
cooking the grains with flavouring material and sweeteners, followed by forming operation.
Sometimes the heat stable nutritional fortifying agents are added before cooking. Two
cooking methods are employed in the industry -direct steam injection into the grain mass and
continuous extrusion cooking.
Various unit operations are involved in the manufacturing of the breakfast cereals such as
tempering, cooking, puffing, flaking, shredding, baking and drying, etc. These unit operations
yield breakfast cereals with certain forms such as puffed, cracked, flaked, cakes, pellets or
definite shapes such as circular, cylindrical, rectangular, nuggets, oval, triangle; and irregular
shapes such as chunks.
Processing Steps
Cooking
Flaked breakfast cereals can be made by cooking whole kernel cereals or legumes by pressure
cooking followed by pressing through rollers. Alternatively it can be made by extrusion
cooking of flour. Cooking helps in development of desirable flavour and nutritional benefits.
It also assists in creation of desirable physical properties necessary for the development of
desire texture primarily by starch gelatinization.
Batch cooking
Corn flakes, wheat or bran flakes and shredded wheat are processed in batch pressure cook
processes, where steam is injected into the pressure cooker. However, atmospheric cooking
with steam injection especially in case of shredded wheat in steam jacketed mixing vessel is
also used. Product from the batch pressure cooker forms lumps or individual grits, which are
subsequently delumped before the next processing step, which is drying.
Extrusion cooking
The starting material for extrusion cooking is dough from which intermediates or half
products are anticipated prior to puffing or flaking. Different types of extruders are employed
in manufacture of breakfast cereals such as single screw, twin screw or kneading or forming
� type extruder.
Tempering
Tempering is a physico-chemical effect that influences the quality of finished product.
Tempering follows a drying or cooling step and is the period during which the cooked grain
mass or cereal pellets are held to allow the equilibration of moisture within and among the
particles. It assist in the development of desired flakability or shredability. During tempering
the retrogradation of starch (firmness of grain due to starch crystallization) allows moisture
equilibration.
Puffing
Puffing is a thermal process in which rapid heat transfer takes place in order to phase shift the
water to a vapor. Two things are important for grain to puff � the grain must be steeped or
cooked, and a large, sudden pressure drop must occur in atmosphere surrounding the grain.
Rice and wheat are most widely used cereals for puffing. They are puffed as whole kernel
grains.
In gun puffing, high temperatures are attained (600 - 800°F) followed by a pressure drop of
100- 200 psi. A rotating gun is heated by means of gas burners with very hot flames; the
moisture in the grain is converted into steam. When the lid is opened to fire the gun, the
internal pressure is released, and the puffed grain is caught in a continuously vented bin.
Flaking
Flaked products are produced by passing tempered grits or pellets through two
large counterrotating metal rolls, one of which is adjustable so that the distance between them
or roll gap can be set to produce a flake of the desired thickness. These rolls are hollow and
are internally cooled by passing water through the interior of the roll. A scraper knife on each
roll removes the flakes, which are then conveyed to toasting oven.
Shredding
The grain used in whole kernel form for shredding is primarily wheat. Shredded wheat is
made by cooking soft white wheat in an excess of water at atmospheric pressure. The drained
wheat is cooled to ambient temperature and contains approximately 50% moisture. The next
step is tempering for 24 hours to allow for moisture equilibration and firming of the kernel.
Next, the wheat is squeezed between two counterrotating metal shredding rolls- one with a
smooth surface, the other grooved. Shredding rolls are water cooled to control the roll surface
temperature. The shreds are laid down on a conveyor under the rolls running parallel to the
shredding grooves and subsequently conveyed to dryer for drying to a final moisture content
of around 3 � 4%.
Baking
Cereal granules or granola cereals are usually produced using a modified bread baking
process. A stiff dough is prepared from wheat flour, malted barley flour/rolled oats, salt, yeast
and water. Other raw materials such as nut pieces, coconut, honey, malt extract, dried milk,
dried fruits, vegetable oil, spices can also be added. The dough is mixed and allowed to
ferment for 4 � 5 hours at 80�F and 80% relative humidity (RH). After fermentation the
dough is baked at 300 - 425�F until the material is uniformly toasted to a light brown and
moisture reduced to about 3%. The dried pieces are ground into small pieces and screened to
obtain desired particle size. The final product has a notable crunchy texture.
Drying
Most ready-to-eat breakfast cereals require drying as an intermediate processing step. This
drying is the controlled removal of water from the cooked grain and other ingredients to
obtain appropriate physical properties for further processing such as flaking, puffing,
forming, toasting or packaging. Cereals are dried at various stages of processing. Pellets for
flake products have a moisture content of 30 - 33% prior to the drying and are dried down to
16- 22% moisture. Pellets for gun puffing are dried from 30 - 32% to 10 - 12% moisture. This
pre-drying prevents agglomeration of cooked cereals. Multipass dryer design for better
control over residence time and humidity are widely used for drying of cereals.
(DEEC) Direct expanded extrusion cooking process

Rotary Drum Coater

Sub Topic-2: Pasta products, noodles
Pasta (alimentary pastes) are among the simplest cereal products used in human diet.
Meaning: These include foods such as Spaghetti, macaroni, vermicelli and noodles which are
made by mixing wheat semolina from durum wheat with minimum water to form unleavened
wheat dough.
Pastas are generally wheat-based products that are formed from dough, where no leavening is
necessary. They are generally made of flour and water, although eggs are sometimes added.
Durum semolina is the best material for making flour for pasta. Durum wheat is a hard wheat
and gives pasta its yellow color and is generally different from common wheat. The pasta-like
pea product processed by Wang et al. (1999) also exhibited a dense, compact structure, with
relatively few swollen starch granules. Their products appeared to be completely coated with
a gelatinized starch and protein matrix. Physico-chemical properties and water status of fresh
pasta (both extruded and laminated) produced with recently designed mixers that induce a
uniform hydration of the solids and allow the formation of a dough in 1–2 s were evaluated.
The typical steps for pasta processing include continuous press, shaker/spreader, pre-dryer,
finish dryer, storage and packaging.
Extrusion
In the continuous press, the semolina and water are metered in a predetermined ratio to form
uniform dough. A dough moisture content of 30-31% yields excellent quality of pasta.
Uniform mixing of water and semolina is carried out in a counterrotating mixing
chamber. Counterrotating mixing shaft prevents balling of the dough. Some mixing chambers
operate under vacuum as it reduces formation of small air bubbles in the dough and limits
oxidation of the xanthophyl/lutein pigments. Pigment oxidation otherwise reduces the
attractive yellow appearance of the pasta and thus consumer acceptability. The presence of air
bubbles in pasta reduces mechanical strength of pasta and gives chalky appearance to the
pasta.
In the extrusion chamber, the hydrated semolina is passed through extrusion auger, which
kneads the dough into homogeneous, cohesive plastic mass prior to extrusion through die.
During extrusion, as heat generation due to friction is considerable, extrusion barrels are
generally equipped with water-cooled jackets to maintain the pasta temperature near 40-
45�C during extrusion process.
Pasta of various size and shapes can be made with change of dies and cutter knives.
Generally bronze or stainless steel dies fitted with Teflon inserts are used. Teflon inserts
extend the life of die and improve surface quality of the pasta.
Drying
Drying is most critical step in pasta processing. Pasta is dried from around 30-31% w/w
moisture to 10-12% w/w moisture during drying process. Uniform drying of pasta is
necessary to prevent moisture gradient. Uneven drying causes stresses, which can cause the
product to crack or check (i.e. ruined by tiny hairline cracks). Checking can occur either
during drying cycle or during storage.
Pasta drying is carried out in three or four discrete stages. The product is subjected to a blast
of air for surface drying called �case-hardening�. The moisture in the pasta quickly
reduced to 20-25% in about 1 hour in a pre-dryer at 65-66�C at 65% relative humidity (RH).
At this moisture level, hard outer �skin� is formed, which keeps the integrity of the pasta
shape and flexibility. The pasta is equilibrated for 1.5 to 2 hours in the main dryer which is
controlled at 55�C with RH at 95%. The temperature and RH maintained during the final
stage of drying of pasta are 40�C and 70%, respectively. The moisture in pasta is reduced to
10-12% w/w at the end of drying. The dried pasta is allowed to cool to ambient temperature
before being packed.
Drying is carried out in number of commercially available dryers. They can be divided into
two classes. They employ either low or high temperature processes. In case of low
temperature drying of pasta time required for drying of long goods is around 16 hours and for
short goods it is approximately 8 hours. High temperature drying raised the drying
temperature from 55�C to 75�C, which resulted in shorter drying times (10 hours for long
goods, 4.5 hours for short goods), improved product and bacterial quality.
Recent pasta drying technology has increased drying temperature from 75 �C to 100 �C and
above. These very high/ultra high temperature drying has many advantages like significant
reduction in drying time (5.5 hours for long goods, 2.5 hours for short goods), improved
bacterial and end-product quality and reduced investment and operating cost.
Microwave technology in conjunction with conventional hot air pre-dryers has been
successfully employed for drying of pasta. Advantages associated with microwave drying are
less floor space requirement (1/3rd to 1/4th of conventional dryer), reduced drying time
(approximately 2 hours), improved product colour and cooking quality, reduced palte count,
reduced sanitation and operation cost.
Packaging
There are many different sizes, shapes and types of packages in which pasta products are
sold. The major considerations in choosing packaging material are: keeping the product free
from contamination, sufficiently gentle mechanical handling to ensure minimal product
breakage during shipment and storage, high degree of accuracy and precision in the weighing
and filling of the packages and displaying the product favourably with consumer appeal.
Cellophane, low-density polythene bags and other types of flexible films are widely used for
packaging of pasta products. Apart from this packaging, pasta is packaged into cardboard
boxes, as they are easy to stack, provide good physical protection for the product and
advertising is easier to print on boxes than on the plastic films. Modified-atmospheric-
packaging (MAP) methods have also been used for packaging of fresh-pasta products, which
are marketed in retail refrigerated cases.
Noodles
Noodles are characterized by thin strips slit from a sheeted dough prepared from flour, water
and salt or alkaline salt.
Extruded Noodles- Are solid ribbon with thickness of about 0.8 mm with variety of widths.
Narrow noodles have width of 1.5 mm and look like square spaghetti.
Broad noodles have width of 12 mm and even 25 mm. Straight noodles and scattered noodles
are manufactured.
Difference between Noodles and Pasta:
Ingredients used in noodles are flour, alkaline salt i,e mixture of sodium and potassium
carbonate. Sometimes egg may be used for firmer texture. In pasta preparation wheat
semolina is used.
After cooking noodles are consumed in soup, but pasta is eaten with sauces.
Sub Topic-3: Texturized vegetable proteins
Texturization (when applied to plant proteins) is the development of a physical structure
which will provide, when eaten, a sensation of eating meat. Meat "texture" is a complex
concept comprising visual aspect (visible fibers), chewiness, elasticity, tenderness and
juiciness. The principal physical elements of meat which create the texture complex are: the
muscle fibres and the connective tissue. Many plant proteins have globular
structure. Texturization confers a fiber-like structure to globular proteins. Suitable processes
give the protein chewiness and good water holding property, cooking strength and a meat-like
structure. These products have an ability to retain these properties during subsequent
hydration and heat treatment. These texturized proteins are often used as meat substitutes,
extenders and meat analogues. Commercial textured vegetable protein products are
manufactured almost exclusively from soy protein.
This is the major technique used at present for texturization of vegetable proteins and is also
referred to as thermoplastic extrusion. It leads to the formation of dry, fibrous, porous
granules or chunks, which possess a chewy texture upon rehydration. The starting material
for these processes need not be a protein isolates. Thus, less costly protein concentrates or
flours (containing 45-70% protein) can be used. The addition of small amounts of starch or
amylose improves the final texture but a lipid content of above 5-10% is detrimental. Up to
3% NaCl, CaCl2 may also be added to improve the texture. The major steps involved are-
 The moisture content of the starting material is adjusted to 30-40% and the additives are
incorporated.
 The protein mixture is fed to the extruder where it is exposed to a high pressure(10,000 to
20,000 kPa)
 Over a period of 20-150 s, the mixture is elevated to a temperature of 150-200°C . Under
these conditions, the mixture is transformed into a plastic viscous state, in which solids
are dispersed. Hydration of the proteins takes place after partial unfolding of the globular
proteins followed by stretching and rearrangement of the protein strands along the
direction of mass transfer. The thermal coagulation of proteins may also occur.
 The mixture is then extruded through a small diameter orifice into normal pressure
environment. This results in flash evaporation of the internal water with the formation of
expanding steam bubbles leaving behind vacuoles in the protein chunks.
 After cooling, the protein polysaccharide matrix possesses a highly expanded dry
structure. The porous material is able to absorb 2 to 4 times its weight of water giving a
fibrous, spongy structure with chewiness like meat. These products are stable even under
sterilization conditions.

Sub Topic-4: Direct expanded (DX)

Direct expanded product or 2nd generation Snack Food gets its name because it is formed on
Extruder, and expands immediately, as it emerges from the die, requiring only additional
drying or frying to bring down the moisture content and is ready for consumption. While the
3rd generation snack food (pellet) is made in 2 stages, Extrusion (cooking at high shear)
followed by additional low shear processing or cooling to extrude out through the low shear
extruder, without any expansion. The pellet needs to be fried at high temperatures for final
expansion and consumption. Pasta products like Vermicelli are usually processed using Cold
forming or Low shear Extruder generating very little shear to the food materials and serve to
pump the ingredients through a shaping die. Direct Expanded product are usually light-
meaning they have low bulk density (typically 50-160 g/l), and are coated with flavours and
seasonings for additional taste and mouth feel. Direct Expanded foods are processed using
specially designed High shear, short residence time (HSST) Extruders with short L/Ds (12:1
or 10:1), fitted with specially designed wear-resistant cooking screw & barrel unit. The screw
functions to cook (gelatinize) the food materials with moisture, mix the ingredients properly
and pump the hot mass through suitable Restrictor plate and dies. The raw ingredients contain
moisture usually less than 20% on wet basis, and are processed at high tempt. (150- 188 deg.)
and high shear rates inside the extruder. The super heated water is held as liquid inside the
extruder because of high pressures, but flashes off the product immediately as pressure drops
to normal atmospheric at the die exit surface, causing the product to expand or puff-up
immediately. It is cut by die face cutter into small lengths. The expanded product, still
contains moisture at 6-8% and is dried out in continuous belt dryer which brings down the
total moisture content to around 1-1.5%. Drying times are short due to low product density.
Drying times vary between 4-6 minutes and tempt. 180° C. They should be allowed to cool to
75-91° C before application of seasonings. For additional taste and mouth feel, the product is
sprayed with oil and dry seasoning and flavour dusted in a specially designed coating Drum
unit. Alternatively oil, flavours, spices, etc. are mixed together in a tank and the slurry then
applied to the snack as it is tumbled in a flavour applicator reel. The oil and coatings usually
make up for 35% of product weight. In designing the extrusion dies for shaping, one must
bear in mind a list of effects leading to distortion of the extruded shape, as the product
expansion immediately at the die surface, tends to balloon the product and round out the
shape, all shapes want to inflate as sphere when they expand. There is additional effect of
elasticity or product “rebound” when the applied stresses on viscous mass are relieved on
emergence at the die. All these factors have to be taken into effect while designing the die
shape.
Equipment & Processing steps in making a direct expanded product:
 Blender with transfer screw
 Continuous Pre-Moisturiser
 Extruder
 Dryer & Coater
 Coating mass supply
Blender: This usually takes the form of a Ribbon Blender. The mixing tool inside the vessel
is in the shape of spiral ribbon which rotates through a reduction gear and electric motor. All
the dry ingredients along with liquid ingredients viz. Emulsifier, Lipids, Moisture (water),
etc. are loaded in measured amounts in the blender and mixed for required time. Since
moisture content for expanded product is low (less than 20%), it can be added to the blender
with dry ingredients. This is batch mixing process.
Conveyer: This is usually in form of inclined screw conveyor rotated by a geared motor
which transfers the pre blended raw-materials from the blender to Extruder hopper.
Extruder: The Extruder has a hopper fitted with horizontal Auger screw run by a variable
speed motor. The volumetric feeder constantly supplies preset amount of raw-materials into
the Extruder inlet and over the extrusion screw running inside a grooved, electrically heated
barrel, which takes away the materials continuously over processing zones and forces in
through the dies into desired shape. Product temperature at die exit can be as high as 190 deg.
Use of twin screw extruders is growing rapidly in food industry as explained below. In past,
special Collet Extruder, specifically designed only for producing Corn curls from straight
corn meal were used for producing this product. This consists of a very short screw & barrel
and set of rotating (rotor) and stationery (stator) plates between which the product is sheared
and passes out through slots as “curls”, hence the name, which are usually of much higher
density and fried to reduce the final moisture content before application of seasonings. The
extruder has no heating provision and the product gets sheared and temperature rises because
of mechanical working of the ingredients between the plates. This Extruder is almost
superseded with Modern High shear Cooking Extruder which has versatility and immense
product possibilities.
Cutters: Automatic cutters are of die-face cut variety and usually consist of set of rotating
knife through a variable speed motor. Three dimensional cutting blades are more
sophisticated and need additional knives mounted at proper angles to form three dimensional
effect cut figures.
Dryer: It is continuous running Belt type with steel perforated belts, arranged for single or
multiple passes to dry the extruded product down to 1-1.5% moisture content (wet basis). The
dryer is used for producing baked collet and other products of low bulk density, while a fryer
would be required for frying product with high density, e.g Corn curls produced on collet
extruder is usually fried in a fryer to reduce the moisture level.
Coating unit: This is used to spray oil on the expanded product and dusting suitable
seasoning, salt, etc. on the product for additional mouth feel and crunch. In some units, the
dryer and coating unit are combined.
Processing:
Raw-materials: De germed Corn meal is used either alone or along with carriers like Rice
flour, Tapioca, Potato granules, etc. Wheat is not normally used, except in small amounts, as
the gluten prevents complete expansion of the product. Other carriers include sorghums, soya
grits, dried vegetable flours.
Water (Moisture) is required in concentration of less than 20%, typically 16%, on wet basis.
Emulsifiers are special form of lipids with higher melting points, to provide lubrication in the
processing equipment, e.g. Monoglyceride. (0.5% max.) It prevents materials from sticking to
the processing equipment.
Vegetable oil is used less than 1%. High concentration than this can prevent drag flow,
resulting in slippage of material inside the extruder, and result in extruder instability and also
less expansion.
Starch is the main component of cereal grains and is main contributor to a product texture.
Different types of raw starch e.g corn or potato, modified starch, pre-gelatinized starch are
used.
 Nucleant (0.75-1%), which remain insoluble in the product in processing and provides
surfaces at which bubbles may form during release of water vapor. e.g baking powder
(sodium bicarbonate) Usage above 1% will impart distinct flavour associated with sodium
bicarbonate.
Fibres: Wheat or Oat bran can be used to modify the final density , product expansion and
cell size. Salt (as per taste), sugar, etc. All the dry ingredients are blended and then mixed
with water to pre-moisten the dries. For best results, water should be distributed evenly.
Enough water is added to bring the moisture content to 14-16% on wet basis). With corn curls
or collet, there is only one dry ingredient, corn grit or meal. In this case the blending step is
for pre moistening only. For other products, such as potato sticks, several other dry
ingredients are used. A Ribbon blender is used for blending of all ingredients. With Twin
screw Extruder, the need for pre-moistening is eliminated because water can be added to dry
mix, by direct metering into extruder barrel. The twin screw will provide enough mixing to
mix the water. Dry ingredients can also be separately metered into twin screw extruder. All
dry ingredients are weighed on a scale and then added into the blender. Dry ingredients are
added first and blended, followed up by adding the liquid ingredient (water) and further
mixing. Blending time is typically 5-20 min.
Conveying: The premixed materials with moisture are conveyed from the blender to the feed
hopper through screw conveyor or vacuum transfer system.
Metering: The ingredients are next metered into the extruder through volumetric feeder run
by variable speed motor for speed control. The extruder for expanded products is usually run
in strave-fed manner, meaning the screw volume is greater than available horsepower or
torque from installed motor. It means extruder is fed at a rate less than it is capable of taking
away.
Extrusion: The Single screw High shear Extruder relies on the drag flow for conveying the
material forwards away from the inlet or feed hopper. The screw has three zones: Feed,
Kneading/Compression and Meter/Final cooking zones. At the feed zone the pressure is
lowest and the bulk density of rawmaterials is less. It is to be understood, that, a single screw
extruder relies on frictional forces between the barrel and material to transport the material
forward to other zones. Hence, to increase the friction force, modern extruders are usually
provided with longitudinal grooves spaced around the periphery of inner barrel walls to
provide a rough surface and maximum forward transport of food materials. As the material
passes through Kneading zone, it is compressed and cooked due to heat being supplied from
the external heaters round the barrel, as well as mechanical working action (friction) of the
screw at high speed (speeds greater than 200 rpm are common). The raw-materials becomes
less viscous or sticky in this zone. As the materials passes through the cooking zone, it gets
gelatinized (cooked) and the pressure and temperature is highest in this zone. This zone might
contain mixing device such as pins, slots, etc. which force the product to take a circuitous
path to mix the ingredients thoroughly inside the extruder. Modern extruders have multi
flighted screws, as opposed to single flight to improve the stability of operation and even
discharge pressure resulting in consistent flow of product. Due to high pressure inside the
extruder, the superheated water present in the material remains as liquid. The plastic, dough
mass passes through additional Restrictor plate and shaping dies, and the product expands
immediately after exiting from die due to superheated water passing out of the product, as
steam, because of sudden drop in pressure. The continuously emerging product is cut into
small length by rotating knives against the die surface. The speed of rotation of cutting knives
will determine the length of product. Extruder operating conditions are used to control the
density and texture of the direct expanded product. The process variables which can be
independently controlled are: moisture, feed rate, barrel temperature, screw speed. The die
restriction (e.g no. of holes) can also be considered an independent control of the extrusion
process but is usually not adjustable while the extruder is running. In some machines, the
discharge of the screw has a conical end and has a matching conical cup in front of the screw
though which the product passes. The axial gap between the conical screw dip and the inner
conical surface of the conical cup can be varied by axial adjustment of the screw thus
changing the extrusion pressure.
Drying To reduce the final moisture content in the expanded product, it is necessary to dry
(bake) the same at temperatures of 180° C for 4-6 min. to bring down the moisture content to
1-1.5%. As said before, it is employed for product of high shear extruder with light density
(baked collet).
Sub Topic-5: Third generation
Third-generation snacks (3G) or pellets are also called semi or half products, because after
extrusion cooking they are dried to a stable moisture content and then expanded by frying in
hot oil, puffing in hot air or microwaving and infrared heating as new variants. After
expansion products are spiced with various types of spices and then packaged and sold as
ready-to-eat(RTE) snacks. They can also be flavoured before expansion and sold as pellets,
for preparation at home. Because of their stability during storage and high bulkdensity, 3G
snacks provide opportunity to produce awide range of products. Different types of raw
materialsand combinations of ingredients can be incorporatedinto the products (Huber and
Rokey, 1990). Basicmaterials that are usually used are: flours (corn, potato,rice, wheat, oat,
etc.), starch (corn, wheat, potato,tapioca), liquid shortenings and monoglyceride. It ispossible
to add flavour or nutrient containingingredients such as meat (shrimp, crab, chicken,
beef),vegetable powders or by-products of food industry(sugar beet pulp, apple pomace,
tomato pomace, bran,etc.), milk components (yogurt, cheese, whey) or anyother flavour that
will be interesting to the customer(pizza, ham, onion, etc.)

Typical formulas for 3G snacks

Wide range of raw materials can be selected for production of 3G snacks. To maximize the
expansion of the final product it has to contain relatively high levels of starch. Levels of less
than 60% total starch in recipe result in less expanded final product, increased crunchiness
and firmer texture. Starch has many contributions to the final product, such as final
expansion, flavour, caloric value, resilience, binding, viscosity, hardness, firmness,
crunchiness etc. Because of that it is important which cereal grains, starch, proteins and other
minor ingredients will be selected. For example, potato amylopectin starch is a better raw
material for preparing foams than high amylose potato starch. Suggested reason is that
amylopectin has better water holding capacity, based on its ability to swell in water. High
amylose potato starch is not completely gelatinized, when bubbles are introduced in the gel,
there is no sufficient strength to trap the bubbles and create pores. Jelena Panak Balentić et al.
/ Production of third-generation snacks / Croat. J. Food Sci. Technol. / (2018) 10 (1) 98-
105100To reduce stickiness, control expansion and to import more uniform cellular structure
into the final product, different types of shortenings, vegetable oils, salts and emulsifiers are
used. Salt is very useful in assisting moisture migration after dying. Baking soda gives special
flavour and textural attributes after expansion. Monoglycerides may reduce expansion if they
are added in levels 0.5% or above. The addition of additives like glycerol and polyvinyl
alcohol in wheat flour during extrusion showed negative effect son the foaming of the
extruded materials when heatedby microwave radiation, even though the dielectric loss factor
is even higher than that of the starch-based materials without additives (Peng et al.,
2013).Different types of proteins and protein enrichment scan be added in 3G snacks, such as
meat (fresh shrimp, chicken, beef, etc.), dairy products (milk solids, cheese, yogurt), and
legume proteins (soya, bean, pea). They can be added in amounts up to 30-35%, and still
maintain high quality of the final product (Riaz, 2006). Bastos-Cardoso et al. (2007) showed
that non food-grade whole potato flour has got good potential for use in the production of
expanded pellets with acceptable functional properties. Blue corn and orange vesicle flour
can also be used in production of 3G snacks, with high-quality physicochemical
characteristics, with the potential health benefits derived from nutraceutical characteristics

Protein texturization process by extrusion

Sub Topic-6: Co-extruded confectionery products
Coextrusion is the process of extruding two or more materials simultaneously or in tandem. It
allows a combination of an ingredient such as wheat flour, which is inexpensive and easily
enriched with vitamins and minerals, with dairy protein, which provides functionality and
texture. For example, an early coextrusion of wheat flour and rennet casein was performed by
van de Voort et al. (1984), who obtained products with varying characteristics depending on
process parameters. Coextrusion of whey protein and corn flour was shown to reduce the
specific mechanical energy input into the extrusion process and increase the expansion and
breaking strength of a protein-enriched extrudate.
Sub Topic-7: Baby foods.
The field of extruded baby and toddler foods, especially in the organic and natural foods
market, is growing rapidly in both the US and Europe. This growth will drive the direction
the food industry takes in this field. The trend is toward more nutritious and wholesome foods
that can be produced inexpensively. Investors, business, governments and funding institutions
will want to observe this trend as they consider the potential for future markets. The
application of this process along with innovative developments will have a profound effect on
the social-economic nature of the future market. This will place a major responsibility on the
shoulders of the food companies to fill the gap in the consumer market by providing high
quality, nutritious, and delicious foods. The ease and lowering of the cost of production of
such products, coupled with the freedom to use any source of raw materials locally available,
e.g., rice, corn, various legumes and fruits, makes the extrusion cooking process an attractive
investment in the area of food production. Finally this process lends itself well to the
implementation of resources earmarked for feeding the world population. Utilization of this
technique will bring a better-tasting product to the baby and toddler market. Further, it can
produce foods designed for teens and adults with a complete nutritional profile that is also
shelf stable.
1. baby cereals
2. baby foods.
Highly soluble baby cereals are commonly extruded with high shear rate and formulated to
use fruit juices, cane sugar, or fructose as a sweetener and fortified with stable vitamins and
minerals. Such cereals are formed into specific shapes and designs and use little or no
preservatives or coloring. Most are in the organic and natural section of the store and may use
natural preservatives such as vitamin E, rosemary and the like. They are usually marketed in a
bag-in-a-box and consumed with dairy milk or soya milk that are formulated for toddlers as
well as younger children. The product may be direct-expanded or flaked. It may also contain
pieces of dried fruit or contain high calcium phosphate, with a variety of natural sweeteners
sprayed on the surface of the product. The product needs to have a very short bowl-life and
very short crunch. The morphological and ultrastructural view of such a product will reveal
very minute air cells in the cross-section with thin air cell walls. The extrudate will absorb the
liquid milk readily and will turn to a spongy soft product holding its shape when extruded.
The textural profile of such a product is essential to the acceptability of the consumer.
Extruded baby foods are highly soluble fully gelatinized products with various natural
sweeteners added to the mix to produce a fully nutritious and fortified product used as baby
food supplement. The product is usually not in any form or shape and may be flaked and
ground to a semi-powder form. The fully ground gelled product is easily hydrated and can be
mixed with hot, warm, or cold water to form an oatmeal consistency to be consumed within a
short time. The most popular of these products are commonly found in the organic and
natural food stores as well as regular supermarkets. These cereals, after grinding, can be
mixed with a number of other ingredients to form a complete and highly fortified meal for
babies and toddlers. The major advantage of such a mixture is that the extruded portion of the
product is sterile, assuming a clean grinding system. When grinding the extrudate it is
important to limit very low or no cross-contamination via handling or transporting. However
if other additives are introduced after production of the ground cereal the possibility of
foreign materials entering into the product with pathogenic implications is much higher. A
good precaution is to extrude the complete mix, thus allowing the pathogens to be destroyed
during the high temperatures and pressures of the extrusion system, leading to a more secured
clean product. In both of the above baby food systems, a liquid is added to the product,
allowing the food to hydrate before it is served. It is important to insure and educate the
consumer that any added liquid, whether it is milk or water, must be clean and pathogen free.
After the addition of such liquids there may be a delay in the consumption of the final
product which can have catastrophic results if precautions are not taken to avoid high risk
conditions. This may not be much of an issue in developed countries. However, developing
countries, especially areas where refrigeration systems are scarce or the drinking water can be
easily contaminated, may be a major problem. The liquid can easily be considered unfit if it is
slightly contaminated and mixed with a highly processed cereal containing some sweeteners
at room temperature. Such a system in liquid form at room temperature can result in the rapid
growth of pathogens. This will result in an unfit product within a very short time.