Il blanching dei prodotti agro-alimentari: analisi e modellazione

Usually, the industrial processes were managed according to procedures which in turn were founded on previous experiences and traditions. Instead, the knowledge of the phenomena, which takes place during the transformation process, could help in optimizing and intensifying actions. A powerful tool, often neglected in industrial practice, to perform the desired optimization is the use of theoretical models which are able to simulate the real processes, i.e. the description of the unit operations in physical and mathematical terms. The availability of reliable mathematical models (predictive) allows remarkable savings during the design phase (the number of preliminary tests on laboratory and on pilot scale drastically decreases) and during the management (it is possible to test the effect of process condition change, even if this change does not take place in the real world). In the case history analyzed in this communication, two potential blanching treatments on foodstuff were investigated on laboratory scale (paying attention in particular to banana samples), a conventional treatment as well as a process assisted by microwave, with the aim of process intensification, and different models were tested to describe the observed phenomena.