ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on latest technological trends in thermal processing of foods and food products. Thermal processing is the combination of temperature and time required to eliminate desired number of microorganisms from food products. In snack production, extrudates are prepared from raw materials such as fish, meat, cereals and other vegetable products in various shapes and sizes. Physical characteristics of extrudates reflect the effectiveness of the process. One can also derive from this the suitability of ingredients for extrusion. Many researchers attempted to model extrudate expansion mostly from the perspective of the influence of material and operational variables. Microstructural analysis performed by SEM in present study revealed symmetrical fashioned network like structure obtained at 150°C and 15" moisture. Temperature changes cause alterations in the physical and chemical properties of food components which influence the overall properties of the final product, for example, taste, appearance, texture and stability.
