The overall goal of the food freezing and storage research is to gain a better understanding of the process and the quality changes occurring during frozen food storage. The outcomes would translate into reductions in energy demand for frozen foods. The focus of current projects is on understanding of changes in water within the food structure during the freezing process, as well as the influence of storage conditions on frozen food quality. The influence of time-to-freeze on quality attributes of the frozen product has been evaluated. The influence of storage temperature on the quality attributes of frozen chicken and beef have been investigated. A simulation of temperature and quality distribution within frozen foods during storage has been developed, and can be applied to a range of situations in refrigerated warehouses, as well as during frozen food distribution. Outcomes from these projects will be used to develop recommendation on reducing energy requirements for the freezing process and for storage of frozen foods, while ensuring the quality of the frozen food is maintained throughout storage and distribution.
Current Research Group 2017
Jeffrey Caminiti, Hongchang Cai, Shengyue Shan, Dr. Sravanti Paluri, David Phinney, Dr. MacDonald Wick, Dr. Dennis Heldman.
Undergrads: Usoshi Chatterjee, Jessica Miao, Xiang Li