food Marketing - Technology 6/2023

Processing
am excited to use the dicer to fill this
gap. It will serve as a key component of
our research here at FEMI. — Audrey
Searing Hettel, PhD candidate, working
with alternative proteins under the
guidance of Dr. Dharmendra Mishra.
Alternative proteins have been buzz
words over the last few years. As
the global population grows, food
resource sustainability remains a
much-discussed topic, and this is part
of the important research FEMI is
exploring. Any innovations determined
in the research must be deemed
scalable and practical for processing
implementation on an industrial scale.
While taste and nutritional value are
essential, texture is the most difficult
diagnostic. The degree of sticky
flexibility called viscoelasticity in order
to have the product stay together in
a certain state of cohesion to support
the product without falling apart, but
also maintain a certain amount of
pliability for mouthfeel.
Having a dicer/shredder that works
ideally with the extruder is an
important area when exploring a wide
range of cutting applications in HMMA.
The services provided by FEMI at
Purdue could be helpful to companies
who want to explore the alternative
protein industry. Capitalizing on the
opportunity to test alternative protein
material using in-line equipment is a
great advantage to start-ups in the
industry. The team is continuing to
build on their knowledge of fine-tuning
the extruder and the M6 Dicer to
deliver more and more options.
The Urschel M6 Dicer accepts a
maximum product infeed thickness
of 1” (25.4 mm). Hinged access panels
promote sanitation and ease of
maintenance. Overall stainless steel
design including motor. All grease
fittings are located on the exterior
of the machine to simplify routine
maintenance. The machine features
continuous operation for uninterrupted
production. The M VersaPro® Dicer
represents an upgrade from the M6
with a higher production capacity and
larger motor options.
Operating Principles of the M6
Product of predetermined thickness
is delivered onto a high-speed feed
belt. This belt carries the product to
the dicing unit. Product is pinched
between a feed roll and the drive roll at
the end of the feed belt. The feed roll,
which is spring loaded and adjustable,
allows product of varying thicknesses
to move thru the dicing unit without
being crushed. Product is forced into
circular knives which run in narrow
grooves in the rotating feed drum. The
resulting strips are then removed from
the circular knives by a stripper plate
which also acts as a shear edge for
the crosscut knives. The strips move
directly into the rotating crosscut
knives producing cubes or rectangular
pieces of predetermined size.
The machine can also be set up for
shredding. In this application, a feed
spindle replaces the circular knife
spindle, and a shredding spindle
replaces the crosscut knife spindle.
There are two types of shredding
spindles. One spindle design uses
shredding discs and spacers stacked
on a spindle. The other spindle design
uses blunt edge knives on a crosscut
spindle. Both spindles will produce
shreds on various alternative meat
products.
Soy, pea, and other plant proteins
are commonly used to produce small
particulates, small to medium dices
or strips, as well as regular or irregular
shreds/flakes. Moisture, pressure,
temperature, and texture are all
control characteristics that determine
the recipe of the product.
In addition to exploring alternative
proteins, FEMI pilot plant scaled
processing enables development
of food and beverage products.
Students benefit from participating
in an immersive hands-on experience
and food processing start-ups and
established food processors who
food Marketing & Technology • December 2023
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