ABSTRACT
Preliminary Validation ................................................................... 458 17.4 Conclusions ..................................................................................................460 Nomenclature .........................................................................................................460 References .............................................................................................................. 461
Thermal processing is an important method of food preservation in the manufacture of shelf stable canned foods. Most of the works done in thermal processes deal with the microbiological and biochemical aspects of the process and are rarely related to the engineering aspects or practical industrial operations of the process. The basic function of a thermal process is to inactivate pathogenic and food spoilage causing bacteria in sealed containers of food using heat treatments at temperatures well above the ambient boiling point of water in pressurized steam retorts (autoclaves).
