Integration of ResonantAcoustic® mixing into thermal processing of foods: A comparison study against other in-container sterilization technologies

A comparison study was carried out for thermal processing times and final product quality in three different modes of retort operation. Still retort simulation, processing with horizontal reciprocating agitation, and ResonantAcoustic® Mixing (RAM) integrated processing were used to process banana puree samples at different °Bx (degree Brix) values (ranging from 16.6 to 41.5). Thermal processing times ranged from 76.6 min to 90.7 min for still retort simulation, from 6.8 min to 76.5 min for processing with horizontal reciprocating agitation, and from 4.3 min to 15.4 min for RAM integrated processing. While a significant amount of reduction in thermal process times (up to 91%) was observed for processing with horizontal reciprocating agitation for banana puree samples with a °Bx value between 16.6 and 29.1, this effectiveness dropped sharply (down to 16%) for samples with higher °Bx values (33.2-41.5). For the RAM integrated processing, the applied mixing technology was found to be effective in reducing the thermal process times and provide high quality post-process products throughout the tested range of product viscosities.