A series of experiments were devised in order to establish the relationship between fibre addition to an extruded breakfast cereal base recipe and the physical, chemical and nutritional qualities of the breakfast cereals. A twin screw extruder was used for all experiments. Preliminary investigations using, guar gum and inulin additions, illustrated that screw configuration was important in determining the physical properties (degree of expansion, firmness and crunchiness) of the extruded products. Thus a screw configuration featuring a reverse screw and mixing zone within the barrel was selected for the larger research study. In the extended experimental design guar gum, inulin, wheat bran, swede fibre, and hi-maize were added to a base recipe at; 5, 10 and 15 % of total dry ingredient content. A further experiment was completed to investigate the synergistic effects of adding differing fibres in combination. Results illustrated that soluble dietary fibres (for instance guar and inulin) created a porous, less firm, but crispier breakfast cereals than the insoluble fibres, which generally produced denser, harder products. The inclusion of fibre into the extruded breakfast cereals did not affect the chemical composition of the breakfast cereal significantly (P=0.05) when taking into account the diluting factor of adding the fibre into the base recipe. However moisture loss / retention on extrusion varied significantly (P=0.05) between fibre combinations. Thus the moisture loss of samples containing guar or inulin were greater than those samples containing wheat bran and swede fibre. The process of extrusion did not significantly effect the amount of protein, starch or fibre in the samples when the extruded samples were compared to the control samples. Pasting properties of samples were evaluated using the Rapid Visco Analyser. This was conducted to try to determine associations between starch pasting properties (gelatinisation events) of the raw and extruded samples and the physical or nutritional quality of the products. However, the results did not show clear associations. An in vitro analysis was conducted to determine the effect of fibre addition on starch breakdown and subsequent release of reducing sugars. Breakfast cereals which included wheat bran, guar and swede fibre all showed a reduced rate of starch degradation compared to the control (P=0.05). These fibres appeared to inhibit the rate of enzyme degradation of starch, in effect increasing the amount of slowly digestible starch in the breakfast cereals. Cereal samples containing inulin did not show this pattern. Generally the rate of inhibition was related to the amount of fibre added to the base recipe. When used in combinations, samples containing inulin and hi-maize were not significantly different to the control in terms of reducing sugar release, whereas inclusion of guar gum significantly reduced this release. In conclusion, the addition of selected fibres can be used effectively as a method of manipulating the starch degradation rates of extruded breakfast cereals. This has nutritional implications in terms of glycaemic index and loading of breakfast cereals. Further work is required to develop clearer associations between the events of starch gelatinisation during extrusion and the potential glycaemic response.

The overall aim of this thesis is to determine if the interactions between normal and waxy rice starch and milk proteins from four milk protein ingredients, namely skim milk powder (SMP), milk protein concentrate (MPC), sodium caseinate (NaCAS) and whey protein isolate (WPI) do occur, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Different milk protein ingredients at various concentrations (0 to 10%, w/w) affected markedly and differently the pasting behaviour of 10% (w/w) rice starches. SMP delayed the pasting of both rice starches by increasing the onset temperature (Tonset) and the peak viscosity temperature (Tpeak) of pasting. This was mainly due to the presence of lactose and ions, which was further supported by the investigation of the effects of UFSMP (a solution of salts and lactose present in SMP at their proper concentration) and lactose. The addition of NaCAS also delayed the pasting of rice starch; Tpeak in the case of both starches was increased. For normal rice starch paste, MPC and WPI decreased the Tpeak. MPC had no affect on Tpeak of waxy rice starch paste. The qualitative viscoelastic behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient gels obtained from the above pastes was dominated by the continuous phase made of the starch molecules. There was evidence, as indicated by confocal microscopy, of phase separation between the milk proteins of SMP and MPC and the two starches. The phase separation was not observed in the addition of either NaCAS or WPI. Studies on the thermal behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient mixtures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that SMP, similarly to UFSMP, delayed the gelatinization of both starches. NaCAS also delayed the gelatinisation of both starches but had a greater effect on waxy than normal rice starch. The addition of NaCAS did not affect Tonset but increased Tpeak for normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinisation temperature of waxy rice starch was highly affected by the addition of NaCAS with both Tonset and Tpeak shifted to higher temperatures. MPC had no affect on the gelatinization temperature of normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinization temperature of waxy rice starch was increased by the addition of MPC. The addition of WPI to both rice starches showed two thermal transitions. The first of these was due to the gelatinisation of the starches and the second to the denaturation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg). The addition of WPI to normal rice starch showed that the thermal behaviour of normal starch and protein were independent from each other. In contrast, the thermal behaviour of waxy rice starch was modified by the addition of WPI; both Tonset and Tpeak were increased. SMP decreased the Tonset of swelling, swelling ratio and the amount of starch leaching from both starches. These observed changes were due to the presence of lactose and ions in SMP. NaCAS slightly increased Tonset of swelling but the amount of starch leaching was reduced for both rice starches. The rigidity of both starches tended to increase in the presence of NaCAS. MPC and WPI affected the swelling behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch differently. A dramatic increase in the swelling of normal rice starch/MPC or WPI mixtures was observed, whereas this trend was not evident for waxy rice starch/ MPC or WPI mixtures. The difference in the water holding ability and gelatinization peak temperatures of the two starches over the temperature range at which whey proteins denature and form gels are believed to be responsible for the observed differences. The results from confocal microscopy showed that milk proteins, such as a-casein, ß- casein, ß-lg and a-lactalbumin (a-la), were adsorbed onto the granule surface of both normal and waxy rice starch. The mechanism for this adsorption is the hydrophilic interactions; hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group from terminated glucan molecule that protrude around starch granule surface-hydroxyl; amino, or other electron-donation or electron-accepting groups of the added proteins. Using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) it was found that for SMP and MPC the adsorbed as- to ß-casein ratio on both starches was similar to the as-casein to ß- casein ratio in the casein micelle at low SMP and MPC concentrations. But at high concentrations of SMP or MPC, this ratio decreased indicating that more ß-casein was adsorbed preferentially to as-casein. In the case of NaCAS, as-casein was adsorbed preferentially to ß-casein. Moreover, there was evidence of multilayer adsorption of ascasein into the surface of rice starch granules. Compared to the other milk protein ingredients, very small amounts of the ß-lg and a-la from WPI were adsorbed onto starch granules. However, the adsorbed amounts of ß-lg and a-la from WPI continuously increased with increasing WPI concentration, suggesting that these two proteins, particularly ß-lg, adsorbed in multilayers too.

Sweet-potato contains a limited amount of protein, although rich in dietary fibre content and carbohydrate, so a successful combination with wheat flour for bread and biscuit production would be nutritionally advantageous. In particular, the role of these ingredients in relating to acceptability of breads and biscuit with higher percentage of sweet potato starch, flour in wheat flour. In this study, starch, flour and residue fibre of three sweet-potato varieties (red, orange and white -types) were studied. The 5 -10% combination levels for biscuit-making were found to be acceptable, without affecting the quality of the biscuit (combination of texture and biscuit size). In bread, bread containing 15% red and white replacement starches and orange replacement flour was found to be acceptable level, without affecting the quality of the bread, in an attempt to replace wheat at higher per cent level. The physicochemical study was complemented with a nutritional study to determine beneficial effects of food rich in dietary fibre and starches, in the context of improving diet related problems. RVA results showed sweet-potato ingredients affected differently the pasting temperature, peak viscosity and final viscosity of the normal wheat flour (p<0.05). Fibre inclusion showed large reduction in viscosity and swelling of sweet potato starch. Biscuits and breads containing sweet-potato starch and flour are low in amylose, and digest slowly because of lowly oriented and ‘crystalline’ areas within the granules enable to swell or to ungelatinised starch granules, whereas wheat control biscuit was able to gelatinised starch and exerted a greater effect upon digestibility. There are many other factors that need to be considered when analysing the in vitro starch digestibility such including amylose content, amylopectin structure and presence of fibre and gelatinising. Sweet-potato starch, flour and fibre addition show least effect on bread texture and size and starch, flour and fibre replacement. However, in in vitro starch digestibility test higher values RSS was recorded for starch addition followed by flour addition.

Fouling of heat treatment equipment in the dairy processing industry is an expensive and persistent problem. The objective of this work was to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms of dairy fouling in heat exchangers and identify methods to control this build-up. This was part of a larger project investigating the interaction between spore-forming thermophilic bacilli (thermophiles) contamination and fouling deposits on internal surfaces of equipment. Two systems were developed to monitor the onset and build-up of fouling on the internal surfaces of two research heat exchangers. The first used a commercial sensor to measure the local heat flux and the temperature on the hot side of a plate type heat exchanger. The heat transfer coefficient was calculated and normalised with its value at the start of the run to reflect the contribution of fouling deposits to the thermal resistance, thus giving a real-time estimate of the rate of fouling. The second system used an energy balance over a tubular type heat exchanger and measured inlet and outlet temperatures to estimate the overall heat transfer coefficient thus giving a global measurement of fouling over the tubular heat exchanger. In both systems the plot of normalised heat transfer coefficient over time often stayed constant over an induction period, which was followed by a falling period indicative of growth in the fouling layer thickness and/or mass. Each system was validated by comparing the final value of the normalised heat transfer coefficient with direct measurements of fouling made at the end of a run namely: fouling deposit height for the local measurement and fouling deposit mass for the global measurement. The normalised heat transfer coefficient reported by each system correlated well with the corresponding direct measurement of the fouling layer. An important factor identified in this study was the effect of air bubble nucleation on fouling deposits. It was shown that bubbles that formed on the heated surface greatly reduced the length of the induction period to a matter of seconds rather than hours, as found in previous studies of fouling in the absence of surface bubbles. The rate of fouling was also enhanced while the bubbles remained at the surface. The structure of bubble type fouling layers was linked to the behaviour of the bubbles at the heated surface. Visual observations of these bubbles showed evidence of growth, vibration and coalescence during their period of attachment to the heated surface. Deposits from bubble type fouling consisted of all solid components found in the original milk solution, except lactose, in approximately the same ratio. By contrast fouling deposits reported in the literature with systems operating under the traditional protein denaturation mechanism were reported to consist mainly of whey proteins. Bubble induced fouling can be limited in a number of ways, the most effective being to maintain a high operating pressure in the equipment to ensure nucleation does not occur. Experiments conducted in this study showed that a pressure of 130 kPa.g was sufficient to suppress all bubble nucleation at the heated surface at a temperature of 90°C. Another method identified was the use of high linear fluid velocities to entrain any surface bubbles into the processing stream immediately upon nucleation. Linear velocities above 1.0 m/s were shown to achieve this goal in the miniature plate heat exchanger tested. However, this method is only partially successful because the local linear velocity varies with position in heat exchange equipment of complex geometries and can drop below the mainstream average velocity causing surface bubbles to form, especially in recirculation regions behind flow obstacles. A more reliable method, in situations where high operating pressures could not be used, involved conditioning the heated surface with a thin protein layer during the first few minutes of a run. Conditioning the surface resulted in bubble suppression even at high temperatures and low pressures, thus greatly extending the length of the induction period. Trials performed in this study showed that the addition of a proteolytic enzyme produced by psychrotrophic microbes greatly increased fouling. The enzyme destabilised the caseins which could attach directly to the heat exchange surface independently from the bubble fouling mechanism. Thus the quality of the milk is another important factor to consider. However, the addition of enzymes produced by thermophilic bacilli isolated from milk powder plants did not increase fouling. A theory describing the air bubble induced fouling mechanism is presented along with recommendations on how to reduce this fouling contamination in processing equipment.

Xenos Ltd. is a technology driven food company, that specializes in aseptic processing and packaging beverage products in bottles. Their aseptic filling technology is based on packaging sterilization with combined treatments of oxidizing agents and Ultraviolet radiation. Recent research studies have suggested that there is a synergistic effect of hydrogen peroxide (0.5 – 1 %) plus UV on inactivation of microorganisms including spores. Advantages of the combined treatment include rapid inactivation, minimum hydrogen peroxide residue in products, with the method being applicable to a wide range of packaging types. Based on this principle, a unique aseptic packaging technique has been developed by Xenos Ltd., which utilizes the combination of vaporized Perform (a commercial sterilizing agent manufactured by Orica Chemnet containing 25% hydrogen peroxide and 5% peracetic acid) and UV radiation at 7.5 – 12.5 W/m2. The aim of the project was to improve and validate the effectiveness of the packaging sterilization process through challenge tests. Challenge tests were conducted using Bacillus subtilis spores as the test microorganism to determine the log reductions delivered by the packaging sterilization system. The tests were firstly carried out on a pilot plant scale aseptic filling machine, in order to test the sterility of the small scale system, and investigate processing parameters (operational conditions) which could affect and improve sterility. The established operational conditions for achieving target sterility were used for designing and modifying an upgrade aseptic packaging system. Finally validation of the upgrade packaging sterilization system was conducted through challenge tests to prove sterility. It is highly recommended that in order to ensure sterility, the packaging sterilization system with vaporized Perform plus UV treatment must meet the requirements listed below during the sterilization process:  Hydrogen peroxide concentration of Perform condensate on bottles (after steaming) is best within 0.5 – 1 %;  Perform loading level should be minimum 300 mg/bottle after vaporized Perform treatment;  UV treatment time applied is greater than 2 seconds during UV treatment;  At least 20 seconds of penetration time (time between Perform treatment and UV treatment) should be allowed. The upgrade sterilization system used by Xenos Ltd. has been improved to meet the above operational conditions. With spore loading level of 106 per bottle and 105 per cap, the system is able to deliver at least a 6 log reduction of B. subtilis spores on PET or glass bottles and a 5 log reduction on bottle caps. Moruzzi et al. (2000) stated that at least a 4 log reduction is commercially required for an aseptic packaging process. Therefore, the system’s sterility would meet the commercial acceptable sterility.

The overall aim of this thesis is to determine if the interactions between normal and waxy rice starch and milk proteins from four milk protein ingredients, namely skim milk powder (SMP), milk protein concentrate (MPC), sodium caseinate (NaCAS) and whey protein isolate (WPI) do occur, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Different milk protein ingredients at various concentrations (0 to 10%, w/w) affected markedly and differently the pasting behaviour of 10% (w/w) rice starches. SMP delayed the pasting of both rice starches by increasing the onset temperature (Tonset) and the peak viscosity temperature (Tpeak) of pasting. This was mainly due to the presence of lactose and ions, which was further supported by the investigation of the effects of UFSMP (a solution of salts and lactose present in SMP at their proper concentration) and lactose. The addition of NaCAS also delayed the pasting of rice starch; Tpeak in the case of both starches was increased. For normal rice starch paste, MPC and WPI decreased the Tpeak. MPC had no affect on Tpeak of waxy rice starch paste. The qualitative viscoelastic behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient gels obtained from the above pastes was dominated by the continuous phase made of the starch molecules. There was evidence, as indicated by confocal microscopy, of phase separation between the milk proteins of SMP and MPC and the two starches. The phase separation was not observed in the addition of either NaCAS or WPI. Studies on the thermal behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient mixtures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that SMP, similarly to UFSMP, delayed the gelatinization of both starches. NaCAS also delayed the gelatinisation of both starches but had a greater effect on waxy than normal rice starch. The addition of NaCAS did not affect Tonset but increased Tpeak for normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinisation temperature of waxy rice starch was highly affected by the addition of NaCAS with both Tonset and Tpeak shifted to higher temperatures. MPC had no affect on the gelatinization temperature of normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinization temperature of waxy rice starch was increased by the addition of MPC. The addition of WPI to both rice starches showed two thermal transitions. The first of these was due to the gelatinisation of the starches and the second to the denaturation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg). The addition of WPI to normal rice starch showed that the thermal behaviour of normal starch and protein were independent from each other. In contrast, the thermal behaviour of waxy rice starch was modified by the addition of WPI; both Tonset and Tpeak were increased. SMP decreased the Tonset of swelling, swelling ratio and the amount of starch leaching from both starches. These observed changes were due to the presence of lactose and ions in SMP. NaCAS slightly increased Tonset of swelling but the amount of starch leaching was reduced for both rice starches. The rigidity of both starches tended to increase in the presence of NaCAS. MPC and WPI affected the swelling behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch differently. A dramatic increase in the swelling of normal rice starch/MPC or WPI mixtures was observed, whereas this trend was not evident for waxy rice starch/ MPC or WPI mixtures. The difference in the water holding ability and gelatinization peak temperatures of the two starches over the temperature range at which whey proteins denature and form gels are believed to be responsible for the observed differences. The results from confocal microscopy showed that milk proteins, such as a-casein, ß- casein, ß-lg and a-lactalbumin (a-la), were adsorbed onto the granule surface of both normal and waxy rice starch. The mechanism for this adsorption is the hydrophilic interactions; hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group from terminated glucan molecule that protrude around starch granule surface-hydroxyl; amino, or other electron-donation or electron-accepting groups of the added proteins. Using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) it was found that for SMP and MPC the adsorbed as- to ß-casein ratio on both starches was similar to the as-casein to ß- casein ratio in the casein micelle at low SMP and MPC concentrations. But at high concentrations of SMP or MPC, this ratio decreased indicating that more ß-casein was adsorbed preferentially to as-casein. In the case of NaCAS, as-casein was adsorbed preferentially to ß-casein. Moreover, there was evidence of multilayer adsorption of ascasein into the surface of rice starch granules. Compared to the other milk protein ingredients, very small amounts of the ß-lg and a-la from WPI were adsorbed onto starch granules. However, the adsorbed amounts of ß-lg and a-la from WPI continuously increased with increasing WPI concentration, suggesting that these two proteins, particularly ß-lg, adsorbed in multilayers too.

The overall aim of this thesis is to determine if the interactions between normal and waxy rice starch and milk proteins from four milk protein ingredients, namely skim milk powder (SMP), milk protein concentrate (MPC), sodium caseinate (NaCAS) and whey protein isolate (WPI) do occur, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Different milk protein ingredients at various concentrations (0 to 10%, w/w) affected markedly and differently the pasting behaviour of 10% (w/w) rice starches. SMP delayed the pasting of both rice starches by increasing the onset temperature (Tonset) and the peak viscosity temperature (Tpeak) of pasting. This was mainly due to the presence of lactose and ions, which was further supported by the investigation of the effects of UFSMP (a solution of salts and lactose present in SMP at their proper concentration) and lactose. The addition of NaCAS also delayed the pasting of rice starch; Tpeak in the case of both starches was increased. For normal rice starch paste, MPC and WPI decreased the Tpeak. MPC had no affect on Tpeak of waxy rice starch paste. The qualitative viscoelastic behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient gels obtained from the above pastes was dominated by the continuous phase made of the starch molecules. There was evidence, as indicated by confocal microscopy, of phase separation between the milk proteins of SMP and MPC and the two starches. The phase separation was not observed in the addition of either NaCAS or WPI. Studies on the thermal behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient mixtures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that SMP, similarly to UFSMP, delayed the gelatinization of both starches. NaCAS also delayed the gelatinisation of both starches but had a greater effect on waxy than normal rice starch. The addition of NaCAS did not affect Tonset but increased Tpeak for normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinisation temperature of waxy rice starch was highly affected by the addition of NaCAS with both Tonset and Tpeak shifted to higher temperatures. MPC had no affect on the gelatinization temperature of normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinization temperature of waxy rice starch was increased by the addition of MPC. The addition of WPI to both rice starches showed two thermal transitions. The first of these was due to the gelatinisation of the starches and the second to the denaturation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg). The addition of WPI to normal rice starch showed that the thermal behaviour of normal starch and protein were independent from each other. In contrast, the thermal behaviour of waxy rice starch was modified by the addition of WPI; both Tonset and Tpeak were increased. SMP decreased the Tonset of swelling, swelling ratio and the amount of starch leaching from both starches. These observed changes were due to the presence of lactose and ions in SMP. NaCAS slightly increased Tonset of swelling but the amount of starch leaching was reduced for both rice starches. The rigidity of both starches tended to increase in the presence of NaCAS. MPC and WPI affected the swelling behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch differently. A dramatic increase in the swelling of normal rice starch/MPC or WPI mixtures was observed, whereas this trend was not evident for waxy rice starch/ MPC or WPI mixtures. The difference in the water holding ability and gelatinization peak temperatures of the two starches over the temperature range at which whey proteins denature and form gels are believed to be responsible for the observed differences. The results from confocal microscopy showed that milk proteins, such as a-casein, ß- casein, ß-lg and a-lactalbumin (a-la), were adsorbed onto the granule surface of both normal and waxy rice starch. The mechanism for this adsorption is the hydrophilic interactions; hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group from terminated glucan molecule that protrude around starch granule surface-hydroxyl; amino, or other electron-donation or electron-accepting groups of the added proteins. Using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) it was found that for SMP and MPC the adsorbed as- to ß-casein ratio on both starches was similar to the as-casein to ß- casein ratio in the casein micelle at low SMP and MPC concentrations. But at high concentrations of SMP or MPC, this ratio decreased indicating that more ß-casein was adsorbed preferentially to as-casein. In the case of NaCAS, as-casein was adsorbed preferentially to ß-casein. Moreover, there was evidence of multilayer adsorption of ascasein into the surface of rice starch granules. Compared to the other milk protein ingredients, very small amounts of the ß-lg and a-la from WPI were adsorbed onto starch granules. However, the adsorbed amounts of ß-lg and a-la from WPI continuously increased with increasing WPI concentration, suggesting that these two proteins, particularly ß-lg, adsorbed in multilayers too.

The overall aim of this thesis is to determine if the interactions between normal and waxy rice starch and milk proteins from four milk protein ingredients, namely skim milk powder (SMP), milk protein concentrate (MPC), sodium caseinate (NaCAS) and whey protein isolate (WPI) do occur, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Different milk protein ingredients at various concentrations (0 to 10%, w/w) affected markedly and differently the pasting behaviour of 10% (w/w) rice starches. SMP delayed the pasting of both rice starches by increasing the onset temperature (Tonset) and the peak viscosity temperature (Tpeak) of pasting. This was mainly due to the presence of lactose and ions, which was further supported by the investigation of the effects of UFSMP (a solution of salts and lactose present in SMP at their proper concentration) and lactose. The addition of NaCAS also delayed the pasting of rice starch; Tpeak in the case of both starches was increased. For normal rice starch paste, MPC and WPI decreased the Tpeak. MPC had no affect on Tpeak of waxy rice starch paste. The qualitative viscoelastic behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient gels obtained from the above pastes was dominated by the continuous phase made of the starch molecules. There was evidence, as indicated by confocal microscopy, of phase separation between the milk proteins of SMP and MPC and the two starches. The phase separation was not observed in the addition of either NaCAS or WPI. Studies on the thermal behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient mixtures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that SMP, similarly to UFSMP, delayed the gelatinization of both starches. NaCAS also delayed the gelatinisation of both starches but had a greater effect on waxy than normal rice starch. The addition of NaCAS did not affect Tonset but increased Tpeak for normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinisation temperature of waxy rice starch was highly affected by the addition of NaCAS with both Tonset and Tpeak shifted to higher temperatures. MPC had no affect on the gelatinization temperature of normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinization temperature of waxy rice starch was increased by the addition of MPC. The addition of WPI to both rice starches showed two thermal transitions. The first of these was due to the gelatinisation of the starches and the second to the denaturation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg). The addition of WPI to normal rice starch showed that the thermal behaviour of normal starch and protein were independent from each other. In contrast, the thermal behaviour of waxy rice starch was modified by the addition of WPI; both Tonset and Tpeak were increased. SMP decreased the Tonset of swelling, swelling ratio and the amount of starch leaching from both starches. These observed changes were due to the presence of lactose and ions in SMP. NaCAS slightly increased Tonset of swelling but the amount of starch leaching was reduced for both rice starches. The rigidity of both starches tended to increase in the presence of NaCAS. MPC and WPI affected the swelling behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch differently. A dramatic increase in the swelling of normal rice starch/MPC or WPI mixtures was observed, whereas this trend was not evident for waxy rice starch/ MPC or WPI mixtures. The difference in the water holding ability and gelatinization peak temperatures of the two starches over the temperature range at which whey proteins denature and form gels are believed to be responsible for the observed differences. The results from confocal microscopy showed that milk proteins, such as a-casein, ß- casein, ß-lg and a-lactalbumin (a-la), were adsorbed onto the granule surface of both normal and waxy rice starch. The mechanism for this adsorption is the hydrophilic interactions; hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group from terminated glucan molecule that protrude around starch granule surface-hydroxyl; amino, or other electron-donation or electron-accepting groups of the added proteins. Using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) it was found that for SMP and MPC the adsorbed as- to ß-casein ratio on both starches was similar to the as-casein to ß- casein ratio in the casein micelle at low SMP and MPC concentrations. But at high concentrations of SMP or MPC, this ratio decreased indicating that more ß-casein was adsorbed preferentially to as-casein. In the case of NaCAS, as-casein was adsorbed preferentially to ß-casein. Moreover, there was evidence of multilayer adsorption of ascasein into the surface of rice starch granules. Compared to the other milk protein ingredients, very small amounts of the ß-lg and a-la from WPI were adsorbed onto starch granules. However, the adsorbed amounts of ß-lg and a-la from WPI continuously increased with increasing WPI concentration, suggesting that these two proteins, particularly ß-lg, adsorbed in multilayers too.

The food industry could potentially benefit from using pervaporation, a membrane process, to concentrate flavours. This research aimed to investigate its application for concentrating flavours in dairy process streams. Pervaporation experiments were carried out at a range of operating conditions, using hydrophobic membranes. The feed mixtures were either aqueous model solutions of dairy flavour compounds (acids, esters and ketones), complex model mixtures containing flavour compounds plus non-volatile dairy components, or real dairy products. Flavour compound enrichment factors ranged from below one to above 30, with esters and ketones being concentrated more effectively than acids. Thus, the flavours could be partially fractionated based on their chemical structure. The permeation of acids was reduced by approximately 50% when the feed pH was increased to near their p Ka values. For flavour compounds with lower molecular weights than approximately 1 20 g mol- I , permeation was controlled mainly by sorption i n the membrane; for larger compounds it was controlled mainly by diffusion through the membrane. The mass transfer of each flavour compound increased with temperature, following an Arrhenius-like relationship. The activation energy was a function of each compound's heat of sorption, its molecular weight, and the elastic modulus of the membrane. The activation energy was also related to the Arrhenius preexponential factor. Thus, fluxes could be estimated through empirical correlations. The non-volatile feed composition was an important factor influencing the pervaporation performance. Milk protein isolate (4% w/v) or lactose (6% or 1 2% w/v) bound with the flavour compounds in the feed, thus lowering the enrichment of sorption-controlled compounds. Milk fat (up to 38% w/v, in the form of cream ) reduced the enrichment of all the flavour compounds tested. Esters and ketones became unavailable for pervaporation as they partitioned into the fat phase; acids remained mainly in the aqueous phase, but their permeation was reduced because the added cream increased the feed pH. Experiments with real dairy products showed that pervaporation could be used to concentrate diacetylin starter distillate, and to selectively recover short-chain esters from ester cream. Of these two products, starter distillate is the more promising for use as a pervaporation feed stream.

The overall aim of this thesis is to determine if the interactions between normal and waxy rice starch and milk proteins from four milk protein ingredients, namely skim milk powder (SMP), milk protein concentrate (MPC), sodium caseinate (NaCAS) and whey protein isolate (WPI) do occur, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Different milk protein ingredients at various concentrations (0 to 10%, w/w) affected markedly and differently the pasting behaviour of 10% (w/w) rice starches. SMP delayed the pasting of both rice starches by increasing the onset temperature (Tonset) and the peak viscosity temperature (Tpeak) of pasting. This was mainly due to the presence of lactose and ions, which was further supported by the investigation of the effects of UFSMP (a solution of salts and lactose present in SMP at their proper concentration) and lactose. The addition of NaCAS also delayed the pasting of rice starch; Tpeak in the case of both starches was increased. For normal rice starch paste, MPC and WPI decreased the Tpeak. MPC had no affect on Tpeak of waxy rice starch paste. The qualitative viscoelastic behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient gels obtained from the above pastes was dominated by the continuous phase made of the starch molecules. There was evidence, as indicated by confocal microscopy, of phase separation between the milk proteins of SMP and MPC and the two starches. The phase separation was not observed in the addition of either NaCAS or WPI. Studies on the thermal behaviour of rice starch/milk protein ingredient mixtures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that SMP, similarly to UFSMP, delayed the gelatinization of both starches. NaCAS also delayed the gelatinisation of both starches but had a greater effect on waxy than normal rice starch. The addition of NaCAS did not affect Tonset but increased Tpeak for normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinisation temperature of waxy rice starch was highly affected by the addition of NaCAS with both Tonset and Tpeak shifted to higher temperatures. MPC had no affect on the gelatinization temperature of normal rice starch, whereas the gelatinization temperature of waxy rice starch was increased by the addition of MPC. The addition of WPI to both rice starches showed two thermal transitions. The first of these was due to the gelatinisation of the starches and the second to the denaturation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg). The addition of WPI to normal rice starch showed that the thermal behaviour of normal starch and protein were independent from each other. In contrast, the thermal behaviour of waxy rice starch was modified by the addition of WPI; both Tonset and Tpeak were increased. SMP decreased the Tonset of swelling, swelling ratio and the amount of starch leaching from both starches. These observed changes were due to the presence of lactose and ions in SMP. NaCAS slightly increased Tonset of swelling but the amount of starch leaching was reduced for both rice starches. The rigidity of both starches tended to increase in the presence of NaCAS. MPC and WPI affected the swelling behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch differently. A dramatic increase in the swelling of normal rice starch/MPC or WPI mixtures was observed, whereas this trend was not evident for waxy rice starch/ MPC or WPI mixtures. The difference in the water holding ability and gelatinization peak temperatures of the two starches over the temperature range at which whey proteins denature and form gels are believed to be responsible for the observed differences. The results from confocal microscopy showed that milk proteins, such as a-casein, ß- casein, ß-lg and a-lactalbumin (a-la), were adsorbed onto the granule surface of both normal and waxy rice starch. The mechanism for this adsorption is the hydrophilic interactions; hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group from terminated glucan molecule that protrude around starch granule surface-hydroxyl; amino, or other electron-donation or electron-accepting groups of the added proteins. Using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) it was found that for SMP and MPC the adsorbed as- to ß-casein ratio on both starches was similar to the as-casein to ß- casein ratio in the casein micelle at low SMP and MPC concentrations. But at high concentrations of SMP or MPC, this ratio decreased indicating that more ß-casein was adsorbed preferentially to as-casein. In the case of NaCAS, as-casein was adsorbed preferentially to ß-casein. Moreover, there was evidence of multilayer adsorption of ascasein into the surface of rice starch granules. Compared to the other milk protein ingredients, very small amounts of the ß-lg and a-la from WPI were adsorbed onto starch granules. However, the adsorbed amounts of ß-lg and a-la from WPI continuously increased with increasing WPI concentration, suggesting that these two proteins, particularly ß-lg, adsorbed in multilayers too.