Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Real Time and In situ Monitoring of the Crystallisation of Palm Oil-based Products using Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM)

4^th International Conference and Exhibition on Food Processing & Technology

August 10-12, 2015 London, UK

Elina Hishamuddin

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

In the past several years, the focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM) has gained increasing interest in the oils and fats field
as a useful tool for online monitoring and characterisation of oils and fats crystallisation processes. FBRM is a non-destructive
technique utilised for tracking in situ changes in particle characteristics such as particle size distribution, population and mechanisms
in real time within particulate suspension systems. This presentation highlights recent advances in the area of online characterisation
of the crystallisation of palm oil-based products using FBRM. Recent emerging studies have focused on examining the effect of
operating parameters on the crystallisation behaviour of palm oil and its subproduct palm olein, as well as crystal behaviour analysis
in blends of palm oil with other vegetable oils. The evolution of crystallisation mechanisms comprising primary and secondary
nucleation, agglomeration and attrition were successfully characterised using FBRM. The crystal size distributions were determined
for each matrix in study and results were further corroborated with offline image analysis via optical microscopy and compositional
analysis by gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These studies have demonstrated that
the application of FBRM for studying the crystallisation of palm oil-based products enables one to obtain valuable information on
how processing conditions affect crystal characteristics and behaviour and gain insight into what truly occurs within the crystalliser.
This will further aid inproper control and optimisation of the crystallisation stage and subsequently allows improvement in the
separation efficiency during filtration, thereby ensuring consistent product quality is achieved.

Biography :

Elina Hishamuddin obtained her B.Eng in Chemical Engineering from UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia in 2002 and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University,
UK in 2009. She is currently a senior research officer in the Protein and Food Technology Unit of the Product Development and Advisory Services Division at the Malaysian
Palm Oil Board, Malaysia. Her research interests primarily focus on the crystallisation and fractionation of palm-based products, application of Focused Beam Reflectance
Measurement (FBRM) in palm-based crystallisation processes and the development of palm-based reference materials.