Testing has shown that a new rheometer developed by CSIRO can cut the costs of food testing by incorporating its instrumentation into online production.
The advanced rheometer was used to test the viscosity and elasticity of food products and was especially suitable where these characteristics might change quickly during processing.
The testing was conducted by CSIRO and Food Science Australia, a joint venture between CSIRO and the Australian Food Industry Science Centre. The results were matched against the results of a sensory panel of fifteen assessors checking for crispness, crunch, melt-in-the-mouth and sticky mouth coating qualities. The aim was to find out whether the scientific quantities of viscosity and elasticity correlated with these sensory qualities which have always been assessed by human sensory panels in the past.
Researchers found that they do correlate.
This could mean a big reduction in the cost of assessment compared with the high costs associated with employing sensory panels. Foods particularly suitable for use of the rheometer in processing include biscuits, chocolate, cheeses, yoghurt, pastes, creams and starches used in snack foods. Health and medicinal products such as toothpaste and face cream are also suitable.
The capacity of the new rheometer is greater than any existing instrumentation on the market.
CSIRO's Tony Fischer-Cripps, in charge of the project, says the possibility exists for the rheometer to be installed on the production line so that food mixes can be adjusted during production. Quality control could be maintained by monitoring instrumentation and adjusting the processing variables rather than relying on taste samples later in the process.
The rheometer has two main advantages: Other rheometers only analyse a single frequency at a time but by using a special Fourier transform technique this rheometer is able to carry out analyses over a wide range of frequencies simultaneously so the test can be completed thoroughly before a fluid dries.
A second advantage is the high resolution achieved. This allows a person to measure the fluid properties of a substance to orders of magnitude much lower than using other conventional rheometers.
GBC Scientific Equipment has an agreement with CSIRO to commercialise the world-leading technology rheometer, called a Micro-Fourier Rheometer (MFR).
It is expected the rheometer might also be introduced into the beverage, paint and polymer industries shortly for use in processing of products as diverse as drinks, paints and glues.
The rheometer may be very valuable in the long-term, not only in the polymer and food and beverage industries. This is a technology with unknown benefits which might flow from a wide range of potential applications. It offers speed of analysis and is applicable to a broad scope of products.
The rheometer offers flexibility in analysis as it is able to handle small sample volumes.
GBC is currently completing software development and hardware modification to market the rheometer worldwide.
