Infrared heating in food processing: An overview

Abstract

One of the best methods for the preservation of agricultural product is drying, which consists in removing water from the manufactured goods. One of the best ways to decrease drying time is to provide heat by infrared (IR) radiation. Infrared (IR) heating provides significant advantages over conventional heating, including reduced heating time, uniform heating, reduced quality losses, absence of solute migration in food material, versatile, simple, and compact equipment, and significant energy saving. Infrared heating can be applied to various food processing operations, namely, drying, baking, roasting, blanching, pasteurization, and sterilization. Combinations of IR heating with microwave heating and other common conductive and convective modes of heating have been gaining momentum because of increased energy throughput. This article reviews aspects of IR heating and presents a theoretical basis for IR heat processing of food materials and the interaction of IR radiation with food components. The effect of IR on food quality attributes is discussed in the context of samples and process parameters. Infrared heating for food drying purposes has become more popular in the last decade and its application in the industrial drying of different foodstuffs has been employed widely.