Today a complete branch of chemical engineering is dedicated to food science.
FREMONT, CA: People seek new ways to enhance food's flavor, texture, and appearance. So a complete branch of chemical engineering is dedicated to utilizing science and technology to enhance the food's gustatory and visual appeal.
Enhancing the appeal
Chemical engineers have been closely allied with food scientists to segregate and produce natural and artificial flavors and other food additives with commercial value. The final result has been to produce notably more pleasant dining experiences.
Today a complete branch of chemical engineering is dedicated to food science and production. The unique, integrated expertise of the scientists in this field has been directed toward the following:
• Bettering food flavors and textures,
• Adding nutritional value, and
• Perfecting the appearance of foods.
The most prominent breakthroughs have been natural and artificial sweeteners and flavors. Foods have also been improved through innovative applications of different starches to enhance texture and nutritional value.
Convenience
Prepackaged, dehydrated, frozen, fast-cook, and microwavable foods are among the advancements that make our fast-moving modern lifestyle more palatable. These present-day time-saving comforts have been brought forward principally through the efforts of the chemical-engineering society.
Fast and easy, delicious and nutritious
The growth of many quick and tasty foods has helped our fast-paced lifestyles. Chemical engineers are liable for conceiving and inventing the many automated processes to provide today's easy-to-cook comfort foods.
Fast-cooking foods
Early efforts to generate fast-cooking rice, beans, and other legumes came with such nutritional tradeoffs as removing nutrient-rich outer bran layers. Chemical engineers designed creative food-processing techniques enabling highly nutritious brown rice, wild rice, beans, and different crop seeds to be cooked quickly without renouncing those outer layers.
Frozen foods
The primary challenge was to develop frozen foods that maintain their appearance, texture, taste, and nutritional content when thawed and cooked. Chemical engineers uncovered that quick-freezing methods supported thawed foods retain all their freshness. The fading of vegetables, followed by quick freezing, conceals the enzymes that induce discoloration and the growth of bad flavors.
