Title : Novel infrared popping of popcorn
Abstract:
Popcorn (Zea mays L. var. Everta) as one of the most popular snack foods in the world is predesigned particularly for the consumption of humans. Popcorn after the expansion has functional and excellent nutritional properties. Expansion properties are related to the acceptance of consumer and sensory attributes. Change in functional characteristics and desirable sensory at foods by processing, leading to increased demand of consumers. For popcorn, these properties are the most important characteristics. Infrared (IR) radiation is environment-friendly, and highly energy-efficient compared to conventional heating. In addition, IR efficiency is characterized by heating homogeneity, food safety, high heat transfer rate, improved product quality, low processing (heating) time and low total energy consumption. in our study, the effect of IR popping process, different IR power (350, 450 and, 550 watts (W)) in the different distances (10, 20 and, 30 cm) on some physicochemical characteristics of popcorn (antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, color, morphology (SEM), FTIR and energy consumption) was investigated. By increasing the power of IR and reducing the distance, bulk density, popping commencement, and expansion residue were significantly decreased, and expansion volume popping yield, and popping percentage were significantly increased (P < 0.05). The total phenolic content, color, and antioxidant activity were significantly changed (P < 0.05). In SEM analysis, an increase in the size of popcorns cavities means an increase in the volume of samples. IR expansion effect significantly on food compounds were in FTIR spectra. The IR expansion method has a high efficiency in the popcorn popping process.
