In the food-processing industry, foam can be generated at various points in the production process. The occurrence of foam, which can significantly impact food processing, is predominantly caused by surface-active substances such as proteins, fatty acids and starches contained in the food. Mechanical methods of foam management have limited effectiveness; therefore, the addition of foam control agents is considered more practical. For food processing applications, traditional defoamers are silicone-based or ethylene oxide/propylene oxide copolymers. In some geographies, a preference for naturally derived defoamers has spurred the development of new, bio-based foam control agents. In this presentation, several new materials which showed excellent defoaming properties for sugar beet or potato processing will be discussed. The fundamental properties of the defoamers such as surface tension, cloud point and CMC were investigated to better understand structure/property relationships that lead to improved foam control.

Foam control agent development for food processing

255th National Meeting (2018)

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