SIZE REDUCTION

Solid Foods
 Introduction

• The unit operation in which the average size of solid pieces of food
is reduced by the application of grinding, compression or impact
forces
• The production of powders and fine particles is also known as
comminution
• When applied to the reduction in size of globules of immiscible
liquids (for example o/w), size reduction is more frequently reffered
to as homogenisation or emulsification
• The size reduction of liquids to droplets  atomization
• Contrastly, size enlargement is achieved by extrusion or forming
Advantage in food processing

• Increase in the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the food  increases

the rate of drying, heating or cooling and also extraction
• When combined with screening, a pre-determined range of particle
size is produced  important for the correct functional or processing
properties of some products
• A similar range of particle size allows more complete mixing of
ingredients
 Methods of size reduction
Different methods of size reduction are classified according to the
particle size range produced :

(1). Chopping, Cutting, Slicing and Dicing

a. large to medium (stewing steak, cheese)
b. medium to small (sliced beans and diced carrots)
c. small to granular (minced or shredded meat, flaked fish)
(2). Milling  to powders or pastes of increasing fineness (grated
products > spices > flours > fruit nectars > powdered
sugar > starches > smooth pastes)
(3). Emulsification and homogenisation (mayonnaise, milk,
essential oils, butter, ice cream, margarine)
 Large  medium

Small  granular

Medium  small
 Size Reduction of Solid Foods
• There are 3 types of force used to reduce the size of foods :
a. compression forces
b. impact forces One is more important than the others
c. shearing (or attrition) forces
• Mechanism :
 Size Reduction of Fibrous Foods

• Most meats, fruits and vegetables fall into the general category of
fibrous food
• Four main types of size reduction equipment, classified in order of
decreasing particle size :
1. Slicing equipment
2. Dicing equipments
3. Flaking equipment
4. Shredding equipments
5. Pulping equipment
Slicing equipment

• Consist of rotating or reciprocating blades which cut the food as it

passes beneath
• Food is held against the slicer blades by centrifugal force and each
slice falls away freely
• High speed cutters :
- slice bacon and “wafer thin” cooked meats at up to 2000
slices/minute
- vegetables at up to 6 tones/hour
Slicing Equipment
Dicing equipment
• Vegetables, fruits & meats :
- sliced  cut into strips by rotating blades
- strips are fed to a second set of rotating knives operating at right
angles to the first set and cut the strips into cubes
Shredding Equipment
• Modified hammer mill  knives are used instead of hammers to
produce cutting action
• Another type : squirrel cage disintegrator
- 2 concentric cylindrical cages inside a casing
- fitted with knife blades along their length and the two cages rotate
in opposite directions
- food is subjected to powerfull shearing & cutting forces as it
passes between them
Disintegrator
Pulping equipment
• Bowl chopper is used to chop meat and harder fruits & vegetables
into a pulp
• Ex : sausagemeat or mincemeat preserve
• A horizontal, slowly rotating bowl moves the ingredients beneath a
set of high-speed rotating blades
• Food may be passed several times beneath the knives until the
required degree of size reduction and mixing is achieved
 B

(a). Pulping wood (b).Pulping coffee

(c). Pulping tomatoes

C
 Size Reduction of Dry Foods

• Ball mills
• Disc mills
• Hammer mills
• Roller mills
Ball Mills

• Slowly rotating, horizontal steel cylinder which is half-filled with steel

balls 2.5-15 cm in diameter (weight 44.000 - 56.500 lb)
• At low speeds or when small balls are used : shearing forces
predominate
• With larger balls or at higher speeds : impact forces predominate
• Used to produce fine powders, ex : food colorants
• To overcome the problem of balls sticking in adhesive food : use
rods instead of balls (rod mill)
Disc Mills
• Single Disc Mills :
-- Food passes through an adjustable gap between a stationary
casing & a grooved disc which rotates at high speed
• Double Disc Mills :
-- Have 2 disc rotating in opposite directions to produce greater
shearing force
• Pin and Disc Mills :
-- Have intermeshing pins fixed either to the single disc and casing
or to double disc
-- Improve the effectiveness of milling by creating additional impact
and shearing force
Hammer Mills

• Have horizontal cylindrical chamber, lined with a toughened steel

breaker plate
• High speed rotor inside the chamber is fitted with swinging hammers
along its length
• Food is disintegrated mainly by impact forces as the hammers drive
it againts the breaker plate
• Widely used for crystalline & fibrous materials including spices and
sugar
Figure 11.2 Grinders: (a) hammer mill, (b) plate mill
Roller Mills

• Used to mill wheat

• Two or more steel rollers revolve towards each other
and pull particles of food through the”nip” (space
between the rollers)
• Main force : compression
• When rollers are rotated at different speed :
additional shearing forces are exerted on the food
 Effect on food

• Sensory characteristic : loss of volatile constituent from spices and

some nuts. In moist food the disruption of cell allows enzymes and
substrate to become more intimately mixed  accelerated
deterioration of flavour, aroma and colour
• Nutritive value : small changes like oxidation of fatty acids and
vitamin A, losses of vitamin C and thiamin.