Size Reduction

Abstract

In many food processes it is frequently required to reduce the size of solid materials for different purposes. For example, size reduction may aid other processes such as expression and extraction, or may shorten heat treatments such as blanching and cooking. “Comminution” is the generic term used for size reduction and includes different operations such as crushing, grinding, milling, mincing, and dicing. Most of these terms are related to a particular application, e.g., milling of cereals, mincing of beef, dicing of tubers, or grinding of spices. The reduction mechanism consists in deforming the food piece until it breaks or tears. Breaking of hard materials along cracks or defects in their structures is achieved by applying diverse forces.