• Defence Food Research Laboratory

Biosynthesis Reactor for Food Industries

The DFRL/DRDO has developed a Biosynthesis Reactor (patent awaited), which facilitates to control, measure and process different micro formulations of biopolymers, bio preservative coatings and packing films for MAP to enhance the shelf life of the fresh produces. It is a simple, portable and low cost system which can also make production of most frequently used fat replacers, along with emulsion stabilizers, thickeners, suspending agents, gelling agents, fibre sources, and mouth feel improvers utilising hydrocolloids blending (with/without heat) and high speed shear processing. The rise in temperature can be adjusted up to 250°C. The parameters such as temperature, pressure, torque, agitation speed, feed rate and rotation with inert atmosphere can be optimized depending on the biopolymers to be synthesized. The system is suitable and provides opportunities for adding value to agricultural biopolymers abundantly available in nature (proteins of plant/animal) or as by-products of the food processing industry thereby significantly reducing the environmental impact of synthetic film and health hazards. Food scientists and technologists, packaging scientists and technologists, protein chemists, and polymer chemists in research and developments can be benefited by this reactor.