RESUMO
Assessment of sustainability will become more relevant for the food industry in the years to come. Analysis based on exergy, including the use of exergetic indicators and Grassmann diagrams, is a useful tool for the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the efficiency of industrial food chains. In this paper, we review the methodology of exergy analysis and the exergetic indicators that are most appropriate for use in the food industry. The challenges of applying exergy analysis in industrial food chains and the specific features of food processes are also discussed.
Assuntos
Eficiência Organizacional , Indústria Alimentícia/métodos , Qualidade dos Alimentos , Abastecimento de Alimentos/economia , Saúde Global , Modelos Econômicos , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde , Animais , Eficiência Organizacional/economia , Indústria Alimentícia/economia , Indústria Alimentícia/tendências , Alimentos em Conserva/análise , Alimentos em Conserva/economia , Indústria de Processamento de Alimentos/economia , Indústria de Processamento de Alimentos/métodos , Indústria de Processamento de Alimentos/tendências , Saúde Global/economia , Humanos , Resíduos Industriais/economia , Resíduos Industriais/prevenção & controle , Valor Nutritivo , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde/economia , Energia Renovável , TermodinâmicaRESUMO
Despite the fair number of microencapsulation principles that have been developed, the actual protection and targeted delivery of sensitive ingredients remains a challenge in the food industry. A suitable technique should use food-grade and inexpensive materials, and ensure tight control over the capsule size and release trigger mechanism. For example, encapsulates may need to survive the low pH of the stomach to release their contents in the neutral environment of the small intestine. In this work we present layer-by-layer (LbL) microcapsules assembled from whey protein isolate (WPI), high-methoxyl pectin (HMP) and WPI-fibrils. The narrow size distribution of these capsules is determined by the oil-in-water droplets used as templates, and their mechanical properties and pH response can be tuned by the number of layers adsorbed. Capsules with more than eight layers have a mechanical strength comparable to chemically cross-linked polymer capsules, because of the reinforcement by the WPI-fibrils in combination with the shell completion. Typically, capsules with five layers survive pH 2 for more than 2 h, but dissolve within 30 min at pH 7. At higher number of layers, the capsules are even more stable. Contrary to other encapsulates, these capsules can be dried and are suitable for application in dry products.
