Fac-simile Scheda Linee di Ricerca - Federalimentare

Dati pubblicati inerenti il tema di ricerca:1. Pittia P., Furlanetto R., Maifreni M., Tassan Mangina F., Dalla Rosa M. (2008). Safe cookingoptimisation by F-value computation in a semi-automatic oven. Food Control, 19 (7), 688-697.Cooking represents an important step in food processing for both sensorial and safety aspects. Aim of this studywas to optimise the cooking cycles of a semi-automatic oven by definition and settling of minimum thermal conditionsto guarantee safety while keeping sensorial quality of cooked foods. To this purpose, the heat penetrationcurves and the correspondent thermal lethality effect (FT) of cooking cycles conventionally adopted to preparesome foods and dishes characterised by different microbial risk (high: lasagne pie, meat minced roll, meat filledpeppers; standard: spinach and salmon), were determined. On the basis of the microbial quality and the desiredsafety level, minimum thermal conditions (F 71.1 = 5 min and T = 75 °C at the slowest heating point of the food)were defined and settled in the electronics of the oven. These conditions were found to determine a sufficientnumber of log reduction of both total microbial count and coliforms able to guarantee safety as well as sensoryquality at consumption. The oven with modified electronics during the heating step of cooking cycles records inreal time the temperature in the product by a multipoint thermocouple, detects the slowest heat penetration curveand computes, by an internal computer the correspondent F 71.1 . After initial setting of the food category, thissemi-automatic oven is able to find automatically the proper process conditions during cooking to obtain the correspondentFT, to let the cooking stop at the end of the recipe or to conduct the thermal treatment till the reachingof the set FT according to the risk category chosen before cooking start.2. Cocci E., Sacchetti G., Vallicelli M., Angioloni A., Dalla Rosa M. (2008). Spaghetti cookingby microwave oven: cooking kinetics and product quality. Journal of Food Engineering, 85(4): 537-546.The cooking kinetics of spaghetti cooked in boiling water by a traditional method: (TRC) and by microwave(MWC) using an innovative oven suitable for pasta cooking were investigated. The quality of cooked spaghettiwas studied as a function of the following cooking parameters: weight increase, total thermal effect and gelatinizationextent. Microwave cooking resulted in a time–temperature profile different from that of the traditionalcooking process and when the cooking parameters were equal, the microwave cooking was characterized by alower total thermal effect. In spite of the lower total thermal effect, when the weight increase was equivalent,microwave cooking resulted in more gelatinized and softer products than traditional cooking. The higher gel degreeand amylose solubility were not reflected in a higher cooking loss or stickiness; this was due to a morecompact gluten network in the outer layer of spaghetti. By modulating the cooking time it was possible to obtainMWC samples with values of weight increase, gel degree and firmness, respectively, equal to the TRC ones;thus different “optimum cooking times” were defined. Sensory panels did not perceive any significant differencesbetween TRC spaghetti and MWC spaghetti samples cooked for different “optimum cooking times” exceptfor the yellow colour intensity, which resulted higher for MWC pasta in agreement with the instrumentalanalysis data.3. Sacchetti G., Pinnavaia G.G., Dalla Rosa M., Mastrocola D. (2006). Non conventionalchestnut flour based products processing by extrusion-cooking. In Proceedings ofInternational Congress on Technological Innovation and Enhancement of Marginal Products.Università di Foggia, Foggia, p. 471-479.Chestnut (Castanea sativa, M.) flour (CF) is a typical product of Italian mountain agriculture. Studies on CFfunctional properties in relation to extrusion-cooking processes were conducted and CF resulted suitable for theextrusion cooking process only if properly mixed with other flours. This is due both to its high sugar content,which has a restrictive effect on product gelatinization and limits product expansion, and to its high reducingsugar content, which could enhance the Maillard reaction rate at high extrusion temperatures. The Maillardreaction caused the occurrence of browning phenomena and flavour development that could be desirable orundesirable depending on their extent.By the combination of extrusion and post-extrusion process variables it was possible to produce CF based snacklikeproducts and ready-to-eat breakfast cereals using a two step extrusion-cooking and toasting process. Theseproducts showed functional and physical properties similar to those of commercial products and acceptablesensory characteristics.SISTAL - SOCIETA’ ITALIANA DI SCIENZE E TECNOLOGIE ALIMENTARIDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroalimentari, Università degli Studi della TusciaVia San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 ViterboTel.: 0761- 35 74 94/7 , Fax: 0761- 35 74 98, e-mail: mmoresi@unitus.it434