Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 51:432441 (2011)

C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Copyright

ISSN: 1040-8398 print / 1549-7852 online
DOI: 10.1080/10408391003646270

Agglomeration of Food Powder and

Applications
K. DHANALAKSHMI, S. GHOSAL and S. BHATTACHARYA
Food Engineering Department, Central Food Technological Research Institute, (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research),
Mysore 570020, India

Agglomeration has many applications in food processing and major applications include easy flow table salt, dispersible
milk powder and soup mix, instant chocolate mix, beverage powder, compacted cubes for nutritional-intervention program,
health bars using expanded/puffed cereals, etc. The main purpose of agglomeration is to improve certain physical properties
of food powders such as bulk density, flowability, dispersability, and stability. Agglomerated products are easy to use by the
consumers and hence are preferred over the traditional non-agglomerated products that are usually non-flowable in nature.
The properties of food agglomerates and the process of agglomeration like employing pressure, extrusion, rewetting, spraybed drying, steam jet, heat/sintering, and binders have been reviewed. The physical and instant properties of agglomerated
food products have also been discussed.
Keywords

agglomeration, food powders, binder, functional properties

INTRODUCTION

AGGLOMERATION

Powdery food materials are frequently used for convenience

in applications during transportation, handling, processing, and
for product formulations. A variety of food powders having
a different source are used to serve specific purposes including
improving sensory appeal and nutritional status of finished products. Powders are characterized in terms of size, shape, and their
functionality, while there is a lack of knowledge about their behavior under varying temperatures and moisture contents. With
the increasing quantity of different powders like beverage powders (coffee, tea, cocoa, milk, etc.), table salt, spice powders,
cereal and pulses flour, additives, etc., are being produced in
food industries, there is a need for detailed information about
their handling and processing characteristics, especially for food
powders, and because of their complexity. Food powders are
occasionally used as such though their main use lies in further
processing for developing different products (Table 1). Among
the various frequently used processes the food powders undergo,
the steps like agglomeration, compaction, instantization and encapsulation are practiced to get products with specific purposes
and for convenience.

Agglomeration, in general, can be defined as a process during which primary particles are joined together so that bigger
porous secondary particles (conglomerates) are formed (Palzer,
2005). According to this definition, even caking of hygroscopic
raw materials during storage can be regarded as a kind of undesired agglomeration. Agglomeration is basically a physical
phenomenon and can be described as the sticking of particulate
solids, which is caused by short-range physical or chemical
forces among the particles themselves as a result of physical or chemical modifications of the surface of the solid. This
phenomenon is triggered by specific processing conditions, or
binders and substances which adhere chemically or physically
on the solid surfaces to form a bridge between particles (Pietsch,
2003).
The process of agglomeration can be applied to many food
and non-food items. The non-food applications include the manufacture of ceramic objects formed by granular materials from
kaolin, feldspar, silica and silicon carbide, fish and mammal
feeds, household products (detergents for fabrics, dish, and hard
surface cleaning), microbiological products (enzyme, yeast, and
bacterial granules), and a number of pharmaceutical products
like feed stock for tabletting, pellets, and encapsulates. The agglomeration of food powders is of recent interest in which the
control of porosity and density of material is the main interest.
These have practical application like dispersability, wettability,

Address correspondence to S. Bhattacharya, Food Engineering Department,

Central Food Technological Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Mysore 570020, India. Tel.: 0821-2513910, Fax: 0821-2517233.
E-mail: suvendu@cftri.res.in

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AGGLOMERATION OF FOOD POWDER AND APPLICATIONS

Table 1

Different functional applications of food powder

Function

Details of function

Raw materials

Used directly

Food additive, taste improver

Salt, spice and sugar powder,

milk powder, beverage
powder

Spray or drum dried milk

powder, baby foods,
coffee, tea

Requires further processing

Developing granulated and

compacted items

Cereal starch/flour, puffed

cereals and pulses

Coating material

To add taste and flavor like

sweet/salty, chocolate,
antisticking agents and to
improve appearance, and
adding nutrients
Suitable as a food component
only after significant
processing

Increasing consistency and

for gelling
Microbial culture in dried
form

Cereal/pulse flour, sugar, salt,

maltodextrin, spices,
vitamins/minerals, artificial
sweeteners, herb/plant
extracts
Corn flour/starch,
rice/wheat/pulse powder,
protein
concentrates/isolates,
modified starches, casein,
egg powder
Starches, crude gelatin, gums,
pectin
Yeast media, bacterial
culture, enzymes

Bouillon cubes, compressed

bars/cubes, chocolate bars,
granulated products and
soup mixes
Salt-spicy snacks,
confectionery, sugar coated
products

Flavoring

Natural and synthetic flavors

Cheese, spices

Fruit and vegetable powders

Adds specific fruit and

vegetable taste

Dehydrated fruits and

vegetables

Aid for drying

Provides a non-sticky surface

Cereal starches/flour

Intermediate raw material

Minor ingredient
Microbial source

sinkability, and solubility. Agglomeration is also referred to as

intantizing, because rehydration and reconstitution are important properties of foods that decide its convenience at domestic
as well as industrial sectors. Agglomerates have both coarse and
open structures varying from 0.1 to 3 mm. Agglomeration improves the dispersability of the formed products that are wetted
uniformly when put in either cold or hot water.
The present article focuses on different processes of agglomeration and applications of agglomerated products in food and
allied industries. The associated mechanism of formation and
structure of the agglomerated products is also discussed.

APPLICATIONS
The major applications of agglomeration in food include
easy flow table salt, dispersible milk powder and soup mix,
instant chocolate mix and beverage powder, compacted cubes
for nutritional intervention programme, health bars using expanded/puffed cereals, etc. (Table 1). Compacted cubes may
be defined as the cuboids having high density that are made
out of powdery food ingredients by the application of pressure.

Specific applications

Reference
Bergquist et al., 1992;
Nasirpour et al., 2006;
Hogekamp et al., 1996;
Colarow, 2006; Sherwood
et al., 2008
Snow et al., 1999; Kimura
and Teraunchi, 1999;
Haefliger et al., 2001;
Pietsch, 2005
Teunou and Poncelot, 2002;
Jinapong et al., 2008;
Kowalska et al., 2005

Soup mix, traditional product

like pan cake, dosa/idli,
high protein foods like
meat analogues

Cunningham, 2007; Takeiti

et al., 2008; Pietsch, 2005

Snacks, jams, jellies, desserts,

soups, sauces
Formulations containing
lactic acid bacteria, yeast
powder
Cheese flavored extruded
snacks, mixed spice flavor
Onion/garlic/potato/
tapioca/mango powders,
fruit-based beverage
powder
Bread crumb, rolling/sheeting
machines

Zhao and Bertrand, 2007;

Caspers et al., 2001
Harkonen et al., 1993

Fuchs et al., 2006; Buffo

et al., 2002; Stahl, 2005
Pietsch, 2005; Cremer, et al.,
2008

Takeiti et al., 2008|

The most common application of punch-and-die presses in the

food industry is for the production of bouillon cubes with dimensions typically in the range 1315 mm (Pietsch, 2005). In
the context of instantizing, the technique of tumble/growth agglomeration is frequently used in the food industries to improve
the reconstitutability of a number of products including flour,
cocoa powder, instant coffee, dried milk powder, sweeteners,
fruit beverage powder, instant soup, and spice. Extrusion is extensively used for shaping the product during the manufacture
of a variety of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (Barbosa-Canovas
et al., 2005).
A major application of the agglomeration process is in the
production of instant products in which primary particles are
agglomerated to give a granule-shaped product with improved
wettability, dispersability, and dissolution characteristics compared to the original primary particles. Food particulates are
encapsulated to increase shelf life, masking taste or odor, and
improving appearance. Coated agglomerated granules are produced for controlled release of constituents within the particle
by providing a coating which dissolves at a given rate in a
particular temperature or pH, or to protect unstable ingredients
from degradation by heat, moisture, or light (Dewettinck and
Huyghebaert, 1998; Teunou and Poncelet, 2002). The materials

434

K. DHANALAKSHMI ET AL.

used for coating in food industries are mainly water-soluble

biopolymers, lipids, milk proteins or corn proteins, gums such
as locust bean gum, carboxymethylcellulose, sodium alginate
and kappa-carrageenan, protein concentrates (sodium caseinate,
lysozyme), blood plasma concentrate (Dewettinck et al., 1998),
gelatin and starch hydrolysates (Dewettinck et al., 1999), and
lipids (Eichler, 1996).
A process for the production of granular cocoa (Kimura and
Teranchi, 1999), agglomerated powdered beverage (Camp and
Fischbach, 1990), a gelling aid consisting of particulate sugar
(Caspers et al., 2001) and granulation of protein-rich fraction of
flour (Berizzi, 2004) have been patented in which agglomeration is a critical processing step. Table 1 lists the products and
the materials that are used to prepare agglomerated products
(Knight, 2001). The patented processes include the production
of instant powder (Strommen et al., 2001), infusing flavors into
cereal grains and the agglomeration of grains into a unitary food
product (Capodieci, 2002), methods for binding agglomerated
proteins (Grossman et al., 2007), and agglomerated starch product which has improved flow properties and disintegrates at substantially the same rate in media of varying pH (Cunningham,
2007). Zhao and Bertrand (2007) have developed a method for
producing instantly dispersible pregelatinized starches for different food products. The list of products includes fish and dairy
products of commercial importance; microbial products and enzyme granules also find the applications in different food and
pharmaceutical industries. As an example, the flow chart for
the production of instant agglomerated soymilk powder is presented in Fig. 1 which shows the use of maltodextrin as a binder
(Jinapong et al., 2008).
Applications of agglomeration also include production of artificial sweeteners (Fotos and Bishay, 2001), a granular flavoring
for chewing gum that facilitates for enhanced flavor retention
(Hyodo et al., 2003), and a free-flowing granular dried soup mix

with relatively narrow particle size distribution to aid dispersion

(Haefliger et al., 2001). Besides the mentioned agglomerated
and granulated products, there exists ample scope to develop
many more such convenience products. Table 2 gives the list of
the various applications of agglomeration processes in food and
allied industries.

AGGLOMERATION PROCESSES
The process of agglomeration may be conducted in several
ways in conjunction with other unit operations such as spraying,
steaming, and drying. The selection of a specific agglomeration
process depends on several factors including physical and chemical properties, average particle sizes of initial raw material(s)
and product, thermal sensitivity, and on the requirement of special properties like instant solubility, easy flowability, etc. The
technologies applied vary widely in their process conditions and
adhesion principles to bind the primary particles together. The
commonly used agglomeration processes can be divided into
three groups (Schuchmann, 1995; Pietsch, 2002; Hogekamp
et al., 1996) like (a) pressure agglomeration (e.g., tableting), (b)
growth agglomeration (e.g., granulation, pelleting) such as wet
agglomeration and dry agglomeration and (c) agglomeration by
drying (e.g., spray drying).
Depending on whether or not a binder liquid is involved in the
process, it can be subdivided into wet and dry agglomeration methods. Each method exploits certain binding mechanisms
(Ennis et al., 1991) for granulation. For wet growth agglomeration processes, the term granulation is often used. The subsequent sections describe the different processes of agglomeration
that is frequently used in agri-food processing industries.

Pressure Agglomeration
Soybean
Soaked, heated to 70-80 oC for 10-15 min, ground with water
and extracted
Soymilk
Concentrated at 40oC using ultrafiltration unit

Concentrated soymilk
Spray dried
Spray dried soymilk

Maltodextrin

Agglomeration in a top spray fluidized bed granulator

Instant agglomerated soymilk powder

Figure 1

Flowchart for the production of instant soymilk powders.

Compaction is a process whereby small particles are bound

together to form larger cohesive masses in which the original
particles can still be identified (Snow et al., 1999). Examples of
dry granulation methods are roll compaction and uniaxial die
compaction. Dry granulation is of particular interest in industry
as the final product requires no liquid binder and drying process,
and therefore costs less to operate as it requires simpler equipment (Augsburger and Vuppala, 1997). It has special advantage
for handling of moisture sensitive material.
In pressure agglomeration, compressive force acts on a confined mass of particulate solids, which are then shaped and
densified. Pressure agglomeration is normally carried out in
two stages; the first stage comprises a forced rearrangement of
particles due to applied pressure, and the second step consists
of a steep pressure rise during which brittle particles break and
malleable particles deform plastically.
The success of compression or compaction agglomeration
process depends on the effective utilization and transmission
of the applied external force, and on the ability of the material

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AGGLOMERATION OF FOOD POWDER AND APPLICATIONS

Table 2

Application of agglomeration processes in food and allied industries

Technology

Method

Equipment

Application

Reference

Agitation Methods

Tumbling agglomeration

Rotary drums, pans, bowl

and plate granulators
Horizontal pan, pin mixer
Powder blenders like
conical, vertical shaft,
ribbon mixers,
agglomerators, flow jet
mixing systems
Compacting/tabletting
presses
Compacting rolls
Piston/screw extrusion
systems
Vertical jet agglomeration
Fluidised bed dryers
Spray dryers

Fruit and vegetable

powders
Cereal powder/starch
Beverage powder, cereal
powder/starch

Pietsch, 2005; Cremer

et al., 2008
Cunningham, 2007|
Kowalska and Lenart
2005

Bouillon cubes,
nutritional bars
Health bars
Cereal powder/starch

Snow et al., 1999;

Pietsch, 2005
Snow et al., 1999
Pietsch, 2005

Cereal powder/starch
Milk powder, baby food
Milk powder, coffee
granules, ice cream
mixes, flavors, lipids,
caroteniods
Milk powder, baby food,
cereal flour
Cereal powder/starch

Hogekamp et al., 1996

Buffo et al., 2002
Vega et al., 2005;
Gharsallaoui et al.,
2007

Mixer agglomeration
Powder clustering

Pressure methods

Piston/rotary type
compaction
Roll pressing
Extrusion

Thermal methods

Steam jet agglomeration

Fluidised bed
Spray drying

Spray and dispersion methods

Spray onto dispersed

powder
Agglomeration in liquid
media

Fluidized/sprouted beds
Ribbon mixers

to form and maintain inter-particle bonds during pressure compaction (or consolidation). This aspect is controlled in turn by
the geometry of the confined space, the nature of the applied
loads, and the physical properties of the particulate material
and of the confining walls (Snow et al., 1999). The different
advantages of compaction agglomeration include an increase
in product density and requirement of a small amount of liquid binder. Compaction agglomeration is carried out by using
the equipment like the piston and moulding presses, tabletting
presses, and roll presses. Tablet presses require highly flowable
feed material to uniformly fill the press chambers prior to compaction. Uniformity of particle size, particle shape, roughness
of surface, cohesiveness due to the chemical nature of the compound, and moisture content contribute to the flow and filling of
the tablet presses (Snow et al., 1999).
High-pressure agglomeration is characterized by a large degree of densification resulting in low-product porosity. Typically, the products from high-pressure agglomeration feature
high strength immediately after discharge from the equipment.
Low and medium pressure agglomeration yield relatively uniform agglomerates of elongated spaghetti-like or cylindrical
shape, whereas high-pressure agglomeration produces pillow or
almond-like shapes (Barbosa Canovas et al., 2005). Mukherjee
and Bhattacharya (2006) and Ghosal et al., (2010) reported the
inter-relationship between rheology of powder and texture of
compacted mass using model food powder system in presence
of binders.
One of the most common binding mechanisms in these processes is caused by the short-range molecular attraction forces,
that is, electrostatic and van der Waals forces, rather than solid
bridging forces. Because these forces are reduced in liquids by

Thomas et al., 2004;

Nasirpour et al., 2006
Buffo et al., 2002

a factor of around 10, the particles bonded by them can disperse

easily in liquid, exhibiting expected instant properties (Pietsch,
1999).

Extrusion Agglomeration
In pressure agglomeration, applying external forces to particulate solids in more or less closed dies forms new and enlarged
entities. Pressure or press agglomeration using an extruder is
possible for commercial applications of size enlargement by agglomeration. In the extrusion agglomeration process, a powder
mixture is blended with binder liquid, additives, or dispersants
and then extruded at low pressure followed by drying, cooling,
and crumbling to get the final instant product (Pietsch, 1999).
Many food products such as snack bars and confectioneries are
processed and/or finished by pressure agglomeration, mainly
extrusion (Pietsch, 2005). Extrusion has also been used to encapsulate flavors, vitamin C, and colors (Dziezak, 1988). The
major advantage of extrusion is its outstanding protection of
flavors against oxidation (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005) while
being a commercially-viable continuous-processing technique.

Tumbling of Powders (Rewetting Agglomeration)

The tumbling agglomeration involves both disintegration of
weaker bonds and re-agglomeration by abrasion transfer and coalescence of larger units. Coalescence occurs at contact points
and additional growth of the agglomerate may proceed by further coalescence, or by layering, or both. The particles to be

436

K. DHANALAKSHMI ET AL.

agglomerated are larger; however, the particle-to-particle adhesion needs to be increased by the addition of binders, such as
water or other more viscous liquids, depending on the properties
of the particles being agglomerated and the required strength of
the agglomerate structure (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005).
In food industries, most units use static and vibrating fluidized beds to mix the powder, promote inter-particle collisions
and dry the granules (Coucoulas, 1992). Granules are formed by
shear processing in planetary mixers, ribbon blenders, Z-blade
units, and high-speed intensive mixers. For example, granulated
enzyme products can be manufactured by mixing enzyme solution with a suitable filler to form dough, which is then pressed
into fine granules. The granules are then sprayed with a suitable binder and further dried in a fluidized bed dryer (Harkonen
et al., 1993). Sometimes, a large amount of fine products are
reprocessed, causing economical burden to this technology.

Straight through Agglomeration

A liquid concentrate is used in this process. When powders
are produced by spray drying, the agglomeration process can
be accomplished in a fluidized bed connected directly to the
spray dryer, where the operating conditions can be controlled so
that the partially dried particles formed in the upper part of the
dryer are still sticky. Fine particles, either from recycle or the
drying chamber, are fed into an external fluidized bed to undergo
cluster formation. Sometimes, steam or atomized water can be
injected into the fluidized bed to assist in the agglomeration
process. Final drying and cooling are also accomplished in the
bed, and the agglomerated product is removed for storage or
packaging. This procedure is more adequate for coffee and baby
foods (Masters and Stoltze, 1973), skim and whole milk, noncaking whey, milk replacer, and ice cream mix. In instant whole
milk production, the straightthrough process is followed by the
addition of lecithin that improves wettability and dispersability.

Atomizer Wheel
This method is used when powder cannot withstand a forceful
agglomeration process or where small-sized agglomerates are
desired. The layout closely resembles the agglomerating tube
method. The only difference is that a rotary atomizer replaces
the agglomerating tube. The powder falls around the rotating
atomizing wheel and is sprayed with water or binder solution.
This system is used for certain baby foods, beverage whiteners,
and cocoa/sugar mixtures (Masters and Stoltze, 1973; Jinapong
et al., 2008).

Steam Jet Agglomeration

Steam jet agglomeration is a continuous process, which has
been used in the food industries for several years to produce
agglomerates with favorable instant properties from fine powders. Free falling particles are wetted by turbulent free jets of
steam. The colliding wetted particles form agglomerates provided that their relative kinetic energy can be dissipated by
the viscous liquid layers on the particles surfaces (Schuchmann
et al., 1993). The material to be agglomerated should preferably
be water-soluble; insoluble or water-repellent substances can be
processed if mixed with a sufficient amount of water-soluble
material such as sucrose or a monosaccharide. Furthermore,
the wettability of hydrophobic substances can be improved by
adding a surface-active agent, for example, in the case of cocoa powder, lecithin. A typical application is instant beverages
intended for reconstitution with water or milk. The steam jetagglomeration process combines a low number of particles per

Carriers (maltodextrin/gum acacia/modified starch)

Dissolved in water at 82oC for 45 min
Dispersion containing carrier substances

Spray-bed Dryer Agglomeration

A fluidized bed is integrated into a spray dryer chamber, combining spray drying with fluidized-bed agglomeration. Particles
formed in the spray drying-zone enter the integrated fluidized
bed at the bottom of the dryer with high moisture content, and
become agglomerated in the bed where they are vigorously agitated by high fluidization velocity (Quek et al., 2007; Gong
et al., 2008). An external fluidized bed is connected to the integrated fluidizer for final product drying and cooling. This type
of dryer is most suitable for small to medium sized plants and
can produce agglomerated powder with excellent properties. As
an example, the flow chart for the production of granular encapsulated flavor powder has been cited in Fig. 2 where maltodextrin/gum acacia/modified starch have been used as a carrier of
flavor. The raw materials are subjected to agglomeration using
a fluidized bed granulator (Buffo et al., 2002).

Allowed to stand overnight at room temperature

Hydrated carrier + flavour
Emulsification for 5min using a high speed mixer
Carrier-flavour emulsion (1:4)
Spray drying
Spray dried encapsulated flavour powder
Agglomeration using fluidized bed
Agglomerated encapsulated flavour powder

Figure 2

Flowchart for flavor encapsulation.

AGGLOMERATION OF FOOD POWDER AND APPLICATIONS

unit volume with short average residence time and narrow residence time distribution (Schuchmann et al., 1993) to produce
products with uniform size and properties.
If the feed contains dry agglomerates, for example, fines
bound together by van der Waals forces, these agglomerates
also take up water, further stabilizing these agglomerates. After
an average residence time ranging from 1 to 2 s, the particles
leave the agglomeration zone and enter the drying zone. Drying
of the agglomerates causes crystallization of soluble substances
in the liquid bridges joining the primary particles, finally turning
the liquid bridges into solid ones. On the other hand, depending
on the drying rate and temperature, these bridges may consist of
an amorphous structure. In any case, the agglomerates formed
by collision in the wetting zone as well as any agglomerates
having entered with the feed are stabilized.
Binders
Binders are adhesives that provide the cohesiveness essential
for the bonding of solid particles during the process of agglomeration. In wet granulation process, binders promote size
enlargement and thereby improve flowability of the blend during the manufacturing process. During wet massing, the binder
may be dissolved in the granulating solvent, which is then added
to the powder, or mixed dry with the powder and the granulating solvent (generally water) (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005).
Binders are classified as natural polymers, synthetic polymers,
or sugars. Some commonly used binders in wet granulation
are starch, gelatin, acacia gum, sodium alginate, alginic acid,
methylcellulose, Na-carboxymethylcellulose, glucose, sucrose,
and sorbitol. In the food system, binders are used in aqueous
solution of lactose or dextrose, gelatine, or a food gum. In product, the nature of the binder is a major factor that determines the
granule strength, attrition resistance, and granule dustiness. It
affects the dispersion and dissolution properties, ingredient release rate, and the chemical stability of the ingredients (Knight,
2001).
The factors influencing the binder efficiency are concentration, viscosity, mechanical properties of the binder, interparticulate interactions between the binder and the substrate,
and binder distribution. Binders differ in their bonding efficiency. For example, gelatin or acacia provide high hardness
and slow disintegration to the agglomerate. Methylcellulose produces granulations that compress easily. Glucose or sucrose can
be applied as syrups in concentrations above 50% in wet granulation processes exhibiting good bonding properties, although
sucrose produces hard and brittle bridges (Barbosa-Canovas et
al, 2005). In the agglomeration process, the binder provides
capillary and viscous forces that give the wet granules mechanical strength and particularly with high shear mixer granulation.
The viscosity of the binder is a very important variable affecting
the rate of size enlargement, morphology of the granule, and the
size distribution obtained (Mills et al., 2000; Keningley et al.,
1997). A multidimensional model enables the study of critical
parameters in binder granulation such as the reaction rate (so-

437

lidification of binder) and the size of the added binder droplets,

which demonstrates its promising potential (Braumann et al.,
2007).
Agglomeration by Heat/Sintering
Sintering is a process in which the particles in a powder mass
can be bonded in solid state at elevated temperatures below the
melting or softening temperature of the materials. The driving
force for sintering is diminution of the surface area of the assembly of original particles. The accessible internal surface of
the particles or surface of the pores between the particles features a specific surface energy. This specific energy is due to the
fact that surface atoms have no neighbors. The reduction of the
free surface leads to the reduction in surface energy. Therefore,
sintering occurs with a reduction in the total surface energy and
accordingly, the total free energy of the powder decrease with
sintering (Pietsch, 2002). The viscosity of material can be decreased by increasing temperature or moisture level to enable
the material to build viscous bridges between the particles by
viscous flow and the process is called sintering (Palzer, 2005).
A simple method for the production of chocolate beverage granules has been reported by Omobuwajo et al. (2000) wherein alkalized cocoa powder (9194%), malt extract (23%), skimmed
milk powder (35%), and vitamins and minerals (0.50.8%) are
mixed with granular sugar to obtain the chocolate drink powder
blend; later, it is heated over a metal plate with constant agitation
to produce instant chocolate beverage granules.
At a certain elevated temperature, atoms and molecules begin to migrate across the interface where particles touch each
other in solid state. Depending on the temperature, time, and the
intensity of contact, the diffusion of matter forms bridge-like
structures between the surfaces, which solidify upon cooling.
This may result in a densification of the compact, which is due
to an elimination of pores and associated shrinkage.
It is desirable to understand the nature of the bonds between
particles in agglomerates that are formed during the process
of agglomeration. The bonding mechanism involved is intermolecular forces (Van der Waals force and hydrogen bond),
electrostatic force, liquid bonds, solid bridges, and mechanical
interlocking. The intermolecular attractive force between particles is inversely proportional to the seventh power of their
separation distance. As the roughness of surface increases the
effective separation distance, Van der Waals forces are of low
importance in granulating systems; electrostatic force is also
of the same order of magnitude as the Van der Waals forces.
Absorbed liquid binder layers on the particle surface have the
effect of smoothing out surface roughness and thus particle separation distances tend to decrease leading to an increase in Van
der Waals forces. The mobile liquid bonds have an important
role during the granulation process. An increase in the quantity
of liquid thus changes the nature of the bonds and influences
the overall granule strength. Particles containing liquid bonds
at the contact point between individual particles are stated to be
in the pendular state; an increase in the liquid content gives rise

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K. DHANALAKSHMI ET AL.

to the funicular state, and finally to the capillary state in which

the inter-particle space is saturated with liquid.
Though theory on the binding of particles by liquid is available, the same is not true on solid bridges between particles.
The strength of such bridges depends on the amount of material present and its structure. A finer crystal structure results in
stronger bonds and there exists some correlation between bond
strength and higher drying temperatures. Granule strength is a
function of the structure and physical properties of the binder
used.
In agglomeration processes, granules grow by the successive
addition of primary particles to an agglomerate that is already
formed; this happens when two particles or two granules are
brought into contact with sufficient liquid binder. In tumbling
beds of powder, two agglomerates colliding are kneaded together by the tumbling action of the mixer to form near sphericalshaped granules. Subsequent growth occurs by a crushing and
layering mechanism in which the smallest and weakest granules
are crushed by larger ones and the material becomes redistributed around the surface of the large granule in a uniform
layer (Smith, 2003).

CHARACTERIZATION OF AGGLOMERATED
PRODUCTS

The density is of primary importance in applications involving bulk flow of air around the particles like in fluidization, of
liquid as sedimentation, or flow-through packed beds. The measurement of bulk density is of fundamental use by the industry
to adjust storage, processing, packaging, and distribution conditions. Bulk density is the mass of the particles that occupies
a unit volume of a bed, whereas porosity is defined as the volume of the voids within the bed divided by the total volume of
the bed. There are several types of bulk density based on the
method of volume determination. The bulk density (b) of powders is the mass of the particles that occupies the unit volume
of a bed. It is determined by particle density, which in turn is
determined by solid density, particle internal porosity, and also
by special arrangement of the particles in the container. Bulk
density includes the volume of the solid and liquid materials,
and all pores. Compact or compacted density is determined after compressing the powders bulk mass by mechanical pressure
and impact(s). Tap or tapped density results after a volume of
powder has been tapped or vibrated under specific conditions.
Loose bulk density is measured after a powder is freely poured
into a container. Aerated bulk density is used for testing under
fluidized conditions or during pneumatic conveying. The volume fraction of air over the total bed volume is called porosity
(Barbosa and Juliano, 2005).

Flowability
The knowledge and characterization of raw materials and
products are essential to select appropriate method and machine, optimize processes, functionality, product formulation,
and reduce the cost of the product. The bulk properties of food
powders are a function of physical and chemical properties of the
material, the geometry, size, and surface characteristics of the
individual particles, as well as the whole system. Parameters that
determine the properties of agglomerates include those related
to primary particles and agglomerates. Thus, the measurement
of powder property is important because these properties intrinsically affect powder behavior during storage, handling, and
processing.

Physical Properties
Bulk Density and Porosity
The density of the sample is conventionally referred to as
mass per unit volume. It is considered quite relevant for determining other particle properties such as bulk powder structure
and particle size requiring a careful definition. Density of a
powder system decides the container volume, requirement of
packaging materials, and selection of machinery for processing.
Depending on how the total volume is measured, different definitions of particle density can be given; these are true particle
density, the apparent particle density, or the effective (or aerodynamic) particle density. Most food particles have densities
considerably lower of about 10001500 kgm3 .

Powder flow is defined as the relative movement of a bulk

of particles among the neighboring particles or along the container wall surface (Peleg, 1978). The forces involved in powder
flow are gravity, friction, cohesion (inter-particle attraction), and
adhesion (particle-wall attraction). Particle surface properties,
particle shape, size distribution, and the geometry of the system
are factors that affect the flowability. It is, therefore, quite difficult to have general theory applicable to the flow of all food
powders in all possible conditions that might be developed in
practice (Peleg, 1978).
The practical objective of powder flowability determination
is to provide both qualitative and quantitative knowledge of powder behavior which can be used in the designing of equipment. In
order to flow, the powder must fail and its strength must be less
than the load put on it. The basic properties describing the failure
condition are: (i) the angle of wall friction (ii) the effective angle
of internal friction (iii) the failure function (iv) the cohesion and
(v) the ultimate tensile strength (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005).
The cohesion is a function of inter-particle attraction and is due
to the effect of internal forces within the bulk, which tend to
prevent planar sliding of one internal surface of particles upon
another. The ultimate tensile strength of a compact powder is the
most fundamental strength mechanism, representing the minimum force required to cause separation of the bulk structure
without major complication on particle distribution within the
plane of failure. There are many empirical tests used to assess
flowability, including measurement of angles of repose (Teunou et al., 1995), Johanson indicizer (Johanson, 1992), Hausner

AGGLOMERATION OF FOOD POWDER AND APPLICATIONS

ratio, and Carr indices, flow-through opening and compression

testing (Peleg, 1978), Jenike shear cell (Jenike, 1964), and by the
upward and downward movement of a rotating blade employing a texture measuring system (Mukherjee and Bhattacharya,
2006).
Structural Features
Particle Size and Shape
Particle size is one of the most important physical characteristics of particles. In the case of simple shapes such as the sphere
or cylinder, the size is explicitly determined by one or several
dimensions. However, particles are of irregular shape so that a
large number of dimensions would be required to describe the
size and shape. The term size of a powder or a particulate material is relative. To determine the particle size, in principle, any
measurable physical property which correlates with characteristic geometric dimensions or equivalent dimensions can be used
(Schubert, 1987). The bulk density, compressibility, and flowability of food powders are highly dependent on particle size and
its distribution. The common convention considers that for a
particulate material to be considered a powder, its approximate
median size (50% of the material is smaller than median size
and 50% larger) should be less than 1 mm. It is also a common practice to talk about fine and coarse powders; several
attempts have been made to standardize particle nomenclature
in certain fields. A significant number of food powders may
be considered to be in the fine range. Methods for measuring
particle size are sieving, microscope counting techniques, sedimentation, and stream scanning. The median particle sizes in
common food commodities have been indicated by BarbosaCanovas et al. (2005).
Particle shape influences factors such as flowability of powder, packing, interaction with fluids, and coating of powders
such as pigments (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005). Generally
the particle shapes are defined as acicular (needle shape), angular (roughly polyhedral shape), crystalline (freely developed
geometric shape in a fluid medium), dentritic (branched crystalline shape), fibrous (regular or irregular thread-like), flaky
(plate-like), granular (approximately equidimensional irregular
shape), irregular (lacking any symmetry), modular (rounded irregular shape), and spherical (global shape), etc.
Solid and Liquid Bridges
In general, interaction between particles is regulated by the
relationship between the strength of the attractive (or repulsive) forces and gravitational forces. For all particles in the
amorphous rubbery state (or above glass transition temperature), forces causing primary particles to stick together are interparticle attraction forces (Van der Waals or molecular forces and
electrostatics forces), liquid bridges, and solid bridges (Hartley
et al., 1985; Seville et al., 2000). Inter-particle forces are inversely related to the particle size (Rennie et al., 1999; Adhikari

439

et al., 2001). Van der Waals and electrostatic attraction are not
as high as the inter-particle connecting force coming from liquid bridges (Schubert, 1987). Van der Waals forces arise from
electron motion among dipoles and act over very short distances
within the material structure, becoming prevalent when the particle size is less than 1 m (Hartley et al., 1985). Electrostatic
forces are longer ranging forces that arise through surface differences on particles and are present when the material does not
dissipate electrostatic charges.
Solid bridge is formed as a result of sintering, solid diffusion,
condensation, or chemical reaction and arises from the material
deposited between the agglomerated particles. Solid bridges can
also be built up by chemical reaction, crystallization of dissolved
substances, hardening of binders, and solidification of melted
components (Loncin and Merson, 1979). Liquid bridges are related to chemical interactions between particle components and
result from the presence of bulk liquid (generally unbound water or melted lipids) between the individual particles. In liquid
bridges, the force of particle adhesion arises either from surface tension of the liquid/air system (as in the case of a liquid
droplet) or from capillary pressure. Composition of the liquid
in the bridge varies in different food materials. The bridging
potential or stickiness is related to factors such as powder
moisture, fat or low-molecular-weight sugar content, and the
shape of the particles (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2005).

Instant Properties
The instantaneous properties of agglomerates are the most
desirable properties of agglomeration processes and they can be
measured by the following four dissolution properties when agglomerates are spread on the surface of liquid (Schubert, 1987).
These are wettability (liquid penetration into a porous agglomerate system due to capillary action), sinkability (the sinking
of agglomerates below the liquid surface), dispersibility (the
dispersion of agglomerates with little stirring), and solubility
(dissolving of soluble agglomerates in the liquid).
The ability of the bulk powder to imbibe a liquid under the
influence of capillary forces is called wettability (Freudig et al.,
1999) and it is the ability of the powder particles to overcome
the surface tension between themselves and the liquid (Fang
et al., 2008). In technical processes, the wetting of the particles
is often the rate-controlling step and depends largely on particle
size. The importance of wettability lies in the development and
quality control of several food powders like milk powder, instant
tea and coffee, and instant mixes for which claims have been
made that they have instant properties like solubility. The conditions favoring good wettability are large particles with large
pores in between, high porosity as long as a critical porosity is
not exceeded, and small contact angle (Freudig et al., 1999). The
presence of free fat in the surface reduces wettability. The selective use of surface-active agents, such as lecithin, can sometimes
improve wettability in dried products containing fat.
Sinkability is defined as the falling of powder particles below the surface of an aqueous phase or liquid (Thomas et al.,

440

K. DHANALAKSHMI ET AL.

2004). It depends mainly on the particle size and density, since

larger and denser particles usually sink faster than the finer and
lighter ones. A higher particle density combined with a lower
quantity of air content enclosed within powder particle results
in a faster sinking rate (Caric and Milanovich, 2002). Swelling
can strongly inhibit sinking (Freudig et al., 1999).
Dispersability describes the ease with which the powder may
be distributed as single particles over the surface and throughout
the bulk of the reconstituting water. In dispersability measuring
test, it is essential to assume that following a short period of
dispersing, soluble particles are completely dissolved and suspended particles are regarded as residual material. There are
several techniques for measuring the dispersibility, including
the measurement of dispersion kinetics using an optical fiber
sensor to collect the light backscattered by the particles in suspension (Galet et al., 2004; Vu et al., 2003).
Solubility refers to the rate and extent to which the components of the powder particles dissolve in water. Solubility
depends mainly on the chemical composition of the powder and
its physical state. It is also the final step of powder dissolution
and is possibly the key determinant of the overall reconstitution quality. It is used to represent the complete phenomenon
of milk powder recombination, comprising soluble components
such as lactose, undenatured whey protein, and salts, as well as
dispersible components like casein (Thomas et al., 2004). Solubility is also used to quantify the rate of dissolution to describe
the various combinations of milk powder reconstitution properties. Generally, the dissolution rate is flavored by the presence of
small hydrophilic molecules on the surface (Lillford and Fryer,
1998).
CONCLUSIONS
Properties of food powder and their conversion to agglomerated products are important areas that directly affect the selection of process equipment, storage ability, and product formulation. The area of understanding the behavior of food powder
is still at an infant stage though there is considerable progress
in other areas like ceramic, mining/metallurgy, and pharmaceutical technology. Scope exists to study the properties of food
powder with an emphasis on application in developing different
food formulations. The specific areas that require attention are
characterization and understanding of food powders along with
functional behavior. It is also desirable that raw materials from
different sources are also considered for research investigations
that would improve our existing knowledge on food powders.

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