HEAT TREATMENT OPTIMIZATION OF CANNED MEATS IN TERMS OF THE RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCTS

Heat treatment of canned food products, particularly canned meat products, requires considerable energy as the cans need sterilization. A heat treatment with a long time span and with a temperature of around 120°C will consume considerable quantities of fuel. The heat treatment is used to avert microbiological danger. The operation regulation has to be defined in a way which produces a microbiologically reliable product, without harming its organoleptic peculiarities, substance, taste and flavour with an oversized treatment. In the interest of safety we have to define the extent and the time span of the heat effect leading to the destruction of the microbiological pathogens with the use of engineering calculations, modelling and computer simulation. We also have to secure the observance of the regulations obtained this way for the sake of the higher quality and the less resource utilization. This observance ability is answered with the help of our developed model for the computer simulation of heat treatment processes. Keywords: autoclave, heat treatment, modelling, simulatio