Processed Food Has Increased Demand For Extruded Products
The rise of the processed food sector is driving the food extrusion market. The population’s changing lifestyles and high disposable incomes have increased demand for ready-to-eat product varieties, saving time and effort. Furthermore, the urban population of developing nations is likely to boost demand for processed product categories, which would drive demand for food extrusion equipment. The need for extruded product types is also fueled by increased per capita income and the growing tendency to snack between meals. Over the last two decades, consumer tastes in rising nations such as China, India, Brazil, and the Middle East have steadily shifted from traditionally prepared breakfasts and snacking meals toward ready-to-eat items.
Difficulties In Extrusion
Climate change has reduced the output of basic commodities such as potatoes, corn, and tapioca worldwide. Snack pellet producers are experiencing a short raw material supply and cannot fulfil increased demand. Other raw resources, such as wheat and vegetable oil, have prices that fluctuate by more than 40%, while natural gas prices fluctuate by more than 25% due to volatility. Furthermore, the high cost of snack pellet materials such as binding agents and tasty tastes is a deterrent. Manufacturers’ profit margins are shrinking due to a rise in raw materials used in snack pellets.
New Product Developments Using Extrusion Technology
The processed food industry has seen several changes in recent years, including the emergence of new players, the expansion of snacks portfolios through continuous product innovation, aggressive marketing campaigns to establish a supplier-consumer relationship, and a shift in consumption patterns as the demand for convenience foods grows. The need for branded snacks is likely to expand as disposable incomes rise. Furthermore, increased health awareness due to sedentary lifestyles and increasing occurrences of lifestyle illnesses in developed and developing nations has resulted in a desire for “healthy” snacks. This demand is only anticipated to grow in the future, providing attractive prospects for both established and new players alike.
Limitations
The viscosity, screw speed, temperature, and pressure, as well as the complexity of the mathematical representations of the operation, all have a tight relationship. These dynamics make accurate dynamic modelling of the extrusion process difficult. In addition, depending on the manipulation variable used, many load variables for viscosity adjustment might cause problems. Additional consideration should be exercised while preparing functional items since nutrients may be lost during processing.
Extruded Breakfast Cereal Products
They come in two varieties: ready-to-eat cold cereals and heated cereals. The goods may be sweetened to meet market preferences and include common breakfast ingredients like chocolate, honey, and malt. Granola/muesli mixtures, which mostly consist of extruded items combined with bits of nuts and raisins, are another variation. Extruders can cook almost any grain; however, the list of functional cereals is restricted to maize, wheat, and rice. Flaking, toasting, puffing, shredding, or extruding are common modifying ready-to-eat cereals.
Single-Screw Extruder
A live bin, feeding screw, preconditioning cylinder, extruder barrel, die, and knife makes up a single screw extruder. It transports and shapes various components into a homogeneous product type by pushing the ingredient mix through a shaped die to generate a uniform shape using a single screw in the extruder’s barrel. Single screw extruders are usually divided into three zones: feeding, kneading, and cooling. Single screw extruders, in contrast to twin-screw extruders, have limited mixing capabilities, necessitating pre-mixing or preconditioning of the ingredients.
Hot Extrusion
The extrusion of pulverized material under baro-thermal conditions is known as hot extrusion or extrusion-cooking of raw food products. The food item is heated to its melting point with the aid of shear energy applied by the moving screw and extra heating of the barrel. The product expands to its final shape when the changing rheological condition of the meal is transferred under high pressure through a die or a succession of dies. As a result, the extrudates have considerably different physical and chemical characteristics than the basic materials utilized.
Food Research Lab develops and launches extruded snacks and other extruded food products(both hot and cold) for food companies worldwide. Our new technology and expert skills help formulate new food and beverage products for our clients.
