Mapping Changes to Starch in Products During Baking in a Commercial Oven

The proposed project aims to characterized and understand the chemical changes to products during baking on a commerical conveyor oven. A focus of this characterization will be on changes to starch during the baking process. There are no studies that have been conducted of this nature; but such an understanding is critical since kinetics of the chemistry during baking is one of the most important factors governing product structure, texture, sensory attributes and shelf life. The proposed research is novel, and necessary to be able to conduct future research to develop strategies to modulate product attributes and develop energy efficient processes in commerical facilities. Knowledge generated from this proposed study will create the potential for determining the key parameters that need to be necessary to optimally devlop new products using efficient technologies.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Koushik Seetharaman

Student:

Shane Walker

Partner:

Kraft Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Guelph