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03 - Leistner.1995-Tecnología de Barreras
03 - Leistner.1995-Tecnología de Barreras
Review
Food preservation
Hurdle technology was developed several years ago as a new
concept for the production of safe, stable, nutritious, tasty
and economical foods. It advocates the intelligent use of
by hurdletechnology*
combinations of different preservation factors or techniques
('hurdles') in order to achieve multi-target, mild but reliable
preservation effects. Attractive applications have been ident-
Lothar Leistnerand LeonG.M. Gorris
ified in many food areas. The present article briefly intro-
duces the concept of hurdle technology, presents potential
applications and gives details on a recently concluded study
concerned with this topic and to which scientists from vative factors (hurdles) that any mict~3rganisms l~esent
11 European countries have contributed. should not be able to overcomet~-6. These hmdles may
be temperatm~, water activity (a,), pH, redox potential,
preservatives, and soon. It requites a c e n a ~ amonnt of
effort from a micromganism to overcome each hurdle.
The 'higher" the hurdle, the greater the effort (i.e. the
The spoilage and poisoning of foods by micrnorgenisms larger tbe number of orgenisms ueeded to overeome it).
is a problem that is not yet under adequate control, Some hurdles, like pasteurization, can be high for a
despite the range of preservation techniques available large number of different types of
(e.g. freezing, blanching, pasteurizing and canning). In whereas others, like salt content, have a less strong
fact, the current Consumer demand for more natural and effect or the effect is limited in the range of types of
fresh-like foods, which urges food m~nufactorers to use microorganisms it effects.
only mild preservation techniques (e.g. refrigeration, The fact that a combination of weservafive factors
modi~ed-atmosphere packaging and biocoaservation), influences the microbial stability and safety of foods has
should make this problem even greater. Thus, for the been known for many centuries. Tbe coueopt is mole or
benefit of food manufacturers there is a strong need for less unconsciously used in many traditional foods, es-
new or improved mild l~..~-rvation methods that allow pecinlly in the developing countries. It was re-invented
for the production c_ fresh-like, but stable and safe some 15 years ago in the meat industry where the con-
foods. The concept of hurdle technology is not new but seinus employment of hurdles was found to be highly
addresses this need in full '.2. favonrable for the production of shelf-stable sansages2.
Hurdle technology (also called combined methods, The concept is now ready to be iatxedueed for u ~ with
combined processes, combination preservation, combi- a much wider range of food products, including fruits
nation techniques or barrier technology) advocates the ve~, t,~-y products,dairy products, fish,
deliberate combination of existing and novel preser- and so on. Several novel preservative factors (e.g.
vation techniques in order to establish a series of preser- gas packaging, biueooservation, hacterincins,ultraldgh-
pressure treatment, edible coatings, etc.) that speciti-
*Revised versiond an a~icle ~l~ished in 1994 in Vaed/n~m/dde~n- c~lly fucilltate this development have been assessed7.
~chnotog~ 27(21), 15-17 [in Dutch] and AUTECNA4, 17-19 [in Hurdle technology is a crucial concept for the mild
Portuguese]. Weservation of foods, as the hm'dles in a stable product
concertedly control microbial spoilage and food poison-
t e a r teMner is at the Federal Centre for Meat Research,
E.C. Baumannstrasse20, D-95326Kulmbach,Germany.L,'~ C~M.Gm'fis tag, leaving desiged fennentation processes unaffected.
(curespondin8 author) is at the Institm for/~mechnol~.~: Re~,.h Because of their c o n c e n ~ sometimes synergistic ef-
(ATO-DLO), BornseKeeg59, PO Box 17, NL-6700AA Waseningen,The fect. the individual hurdles may be set at lower intensi-
Nethedands(fax:+31-8370-12260;e-mail:L.G~.CORRISt~TOAGRO.NU. ties than would be required if only a single hurdle were
Trends in Food Science & Technoto~/FebruaTy 1995 [VoL 6i re.s, ~.~.r sc~e L~ogZ4-Z2On~Og.SO 41
used as the Weserva~ion t e c b ~ u e . The application ofin Fig. la represents a food containing six hat'dles: high
~s co~ ~ ~ v e n very s u c c e s s ~ as en appropd- temperature during processing (F value), low tempera-
a~e combin~on of hurdles achieves microb~l stability ture during storage (t value), low water activity (a~),
and safety and also stabilizes Ihe sensory, nutritive and acidity (pH) and low redox potential (Ell), as well as
eco~n~ ~ e s of a food~ . preservatives (pres.) in the Im~uct. Some of the micro-
organisms present can overcome a number of hurdles
r~mp~ of ~hehm~ e f ~ but none can jump over all the hurdles used together.
A food pgodect is mlcrobiologically stable and safe Thus the food is stable and safe. This example is only a
beceme of the presence of a set of hurdles ~ is theorelical case, because all hurdles are depicted as hav-
s p e c ~ for t~e pmicu~r product, in terms of the naune ing the same intensity, which is rarely the case in prae-
end suengt~ of t~e~r effecL T o g ~ , t~ese bpadles keep rice. More likely, hurdles are of different intensity, as in
spoilage o~ pathogenic n ~ c m m ' g ~ m s under control the second exemple (see Fig. lb), where a , and preserva-
b c c a ~ Ibee¢ n~moorgmdsms cannot overcome ('jump fives m-e the main hurdles and storage t e ~ , pH
over') all of the hm'~es p~.eent. Exmnples of sets of and Eh are minor hurdles. If there are only a few micro-
hurdtes are ~lustreted by Figs la-e. The example shown orgadsms l ~ n t at the smt (see Rg. lc), fewer dilferent
iI ~ i s iI s II ~*~, l/ ~% t"
/ 4 '," '4 ',"
aw / s tS • .~,
! i: ,,' , ,
x × x >~ _
~.~ . . . . . _~
x x x x x ~ 8
x x x ~ x x x x ~
x x ~: x x x . t,~
Review
The developmentof
the cooking of foods and the mechanisms involved.
process flavors Many excellent reviews covering this area of chemistry
have already bean publishedt'~. This article will explore
those areas in which chemistry can assist the flavorist in
creating flavors that are developed by the use of the
'process' of cooking.
CharlesH. Manleyand SajidAhmedi
The flavorhl's approach
The flavorist's approach to flavor development is a
creative one, bm with a scientific foundation. Let us first
The scientific, artistic and regulatory aspects of process
review how the flavorist sets about the task of creating
flavors are reviewed. The role of the flevorist, as it relates to flavors from scratch.
the creation of process flavors for commercial purposes, is The most important step is to first evaluate the target
discussed. An overview of the chemisW and analytical tech- flavor in descriptive terms. A commonly used method is
niques used as tools for the artistic approach is also given. to describe the flavor's character in terms of its top,
middle and base 'notes'. The flavorist draws upon experi-
In addition, the development of 'building blocks' for flavor ence gained from past work on different flavor blends.
creation is discussed, and comparisons are made between An ingredient that might be suitable for providing a ear-
the methods used for the creation of classical flavors versus taln top note may adversely affect the middle and base
process flavors. Finally, the regulations relatinp to the safety notes; therefore, a vast amount of expefieuce as well as
and labeling of these flavors are considered.
a degree of artistry arc needed to effectively combine
these notes to produce a well-balanced flavor.
Sensory evaluation methods may help define the
flavor in terms of its attributes and strength. A small
9~nel of sensory e x p e ~ (5-8 flavorists) is needed to do
Man's interest in 'cooked' flavors stetted with the evol- this. Efforts are focused on selecting appropriate de-
ution of the human species, and m~m Lq the only repre- scriptive terms (usually 6 - 8 ) that relate to the character
sen~tive of the ~imal kingdom that has established the and quality of the flavor or taste.
~ c t i c e of conking food before eating it. The use of fire, A more in-depth evaluation may be accomplished by
and subsequandy other heat sources, to render a raw using analytical methods such as the extraction of vol-
nu~m~d pelamble is one of man's higher intellectual atilas,followed by their separation using gas chroma-
achievements. The cre~on of a 'cooked' flavor presents tography end aroma evaluation of the separated compo-
the flavofisz with a major challenge. nents (olfactometry). A number of good reviews on
Cbendstry, p~ficularly analytical and natural product such methods for evaluating a flavor can be found in a
chcnds~'y, allows for the further development of our recent Imbrication4. By the use of these methods, the
basic u ~ e r s t ~ l l n g of the components that arise during important volatile flavor components can be identified.
Once the basic formula of a flavor has been obtained
H. ~ and ~ Ahng,~are at TakasagoInternationalCorp. using the analytical methods, the flavorist is ready to
(USA),Teted~o, Hi, USA(fax:+1-201-288-1692). put artistry to worL The aroma components that have