The mixing of liquids, solids and gases is one of the most common unit operations in the food industry. Mixing increases the homogeneity of a system by reducing non-uniformity or gradients in composition, properties or temperature. Secondary objectives of mixing include control of rates of heat and mass transfer, reactions and structural changes. In food processing applications, additional mixing challenges include sanitary design, complex rheology, desire for continuous processing and the effects of mixing on final product texture and sensory profiles. Mixing ensures delivery of a product with constant properties. For example, consumers expect all containers of soups, breakfast cereals, fruit mixes, etc to contain the same amount of each ingredient. If mixing fails to achieve the required product yield, quality, organoleptic or functional attributes, production costs may increase significantly.

This volume brings together essential information on the principles and applications of mixing within food processing. While there are a number of creditable references covering general mixing, such publications tend to be aimed at the chemical industry and so topics specific to food applications are often neglected. Chapters address the underlying principles of mixing, equipment design, novel monitoring techniques and the numerical techniques available to advance the scientific understanding of food mixing. Food mixing applications are described in detail.

The book will be useful for engineers and scientists who need to specify and select mixing equipment for specific processing applications and will assist with the identification and solving of the wide range of mixing problems that occur in the food, pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. It will also be of interest to those who teach, study and research food science and food engineering.

Written in four parts, this book provides a dedicated and in-depth reference for blending within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. It links the science of blending with regulatory requirements associated with pharmaceutical manufacture. The contributors are a combination of leading academic and industrial experts, who provide an informed and industrially relevant perspective of the topic. This is an essential book for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, and related academic researchers in pharmaceutical science and chemical and mechanical engineering.

The Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative aims to move from a paradigm of 'testing quality in' to 'building quality in by design'. It can be defined as the optimal application of process analytical technologies, feedback process control strategies, information management tools, and/or product-process optimization strategies.Recently, there have been significant advances in process sensors and in model-based monitoring and control methodologies, leading to enormous opportunities for improved performance of food manufacturing processes and for the quality of food products with the adoption of PAT. Improvements in process efficiency, reduced product variability, enhanced traceability, process understanding, and decreased risk of contamination are some of the benefits arising from the introduction of a PAT strategy in the food industry. Process Analytical Technology for the Food Industry reviews established and emerging PAT tools with potential application within the food processing industry. The book will also serve as a reference for industry, researchers, educators, and students by providing a comprehensive insight into the objectives, challenges, and benefits of adopting a Process Analytical Technology strategy in the food industry.

The Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative aims to move from a paradigm of " testing quality in " to " building quality in by design ." It can be defined as the optimal application of process analytical technologies, feedback process control strategies, information management tools, and/or product process optimization strategies.

Recently, there have been significant advances in process sensors and in model-based monitoring and control methodologies, leading to enormous opportunities for improved performance of food manufacturing processes and for the quality of food products with the adoption of PAT. Improvements in process efficiency, reduced product variability, enhanced traceability, process understanding, and decreased risk of contamination are some of the benefits arising from the introduction of a PAT strategy in the food industry.

"Process Analytical Technology for the Food Industry" reviews established and emerging PAT tools with potential application within the food processing industry. The book will also serve as a reference for industry, researchers, educators, and students by providing a comprehensive insight into the objectives, challenges, and benefits of adopting a Process Analytical Technology strategy in the food industry."

Food processing is the step of the food chain that principally affects a food's physical or biochemical properties, along with determining the safety and shelf life of the product. This book provides a comprehensive overview of innovations in non-thermal technologies specifically for fluid foods, recognized for their high bioavailability of macronutrients and micronutrients. Considerable resources and expertise has been devoted to the processing of safe and wholesome foods. Non-thermal technologies have been developed as an alternative to thermal processing, while still meeting required safety or shelf-life demands and minimising the effects on its nutritional and quality attributes.

This book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of cold plasma technology for tackling the various food-related hazards in a wide range of food sectors. The principles and characteristics of cold plasma generation in gas and its interaction with liquids, as well as its combating modes of action for common hazards (e.g., bacteria, spores, biofilms, fungi, and fungal toxins) are emphasized in this book. It also presents the applications of cold plasma or its hurdles with other techniques to assure the microbiological safety of the key food classifications, including fruits, vegetables, cereals, grains, meat, aquatic products, liquid food products (e.g., juices, milk), nuts, spices, herbs, and food packaging. This book is useful for researchers to grasp the comprehensive understandings of how food safety can be controlled with cold plasma technology. This book also provides adequate information for engineers in food industry for better development and optimization of the plasma-generating systems. Government institutions that are responsible for food safety regulations can understand more knowledge about the intricacies and influencing factors, which should be considered for regulating the applications of cold plasma technology in food.

Cold Plasma in Food and Agriculture: Fundamentals and Applications is an essential reference offering a broad perspective on a new, exciting, and growing field for the food industry. Written for researchers, industry personnel, and students interested in nonthermal food technology, this reference will lay the groundwork of plasma physics, chemistry, and technology, and their biological applications. Food scientists and food engineers interested in understanding the theory and application of nonthermal plasma for food will find this book valuable because it provides a roadmap for future developments in this emerging field. This reference is also useful for biologists, chemists, and physicists who wish to understand the fundamentals of plasma physics, chemistry, and technology and their biological interactions through applying novel plasma sources to food and other sensitive biomaterials.