Department History

The Department of food processing was established in 1994. Initially, the main studies were focused on Dairy and soy products. Historically, comprehensive studies vis-à-vis soy products in Iran begun with our department. Gradually, we also focused on functional foods. Production of synbiotic extruded snacks was an achievement in this area. Currently, our department is known as a leading research center in food extrusion in the country.

Research Areas

Optimization of food processing methods and techniques to increase yield and reduce wastes;

Designing new food processing techniques using emerging technologies;

Application of nanotechnology and biotechnology in food Manufacturing and packaging;

Creating new food products and consulting technical solutions in food industry.

Current study

Application of extrusion technology in food processing:

-Functional puffed snacks

-Dietary fiber supplements

-Modified starch and flours

-Breakfast Cereals

Product Developments

Contact Information

 

 

Food Extrusion Pilot Plant

Extrusion technology, well known in the plastics industry, has now become a widely used technology in the agri-food processing industry, where it is referred to as extrusion cooking. It has been employed for the production of so-called engineered-processed food and special feed. Extrusion of foods is an emerging technology for the food industries to process and market a large number of products of varying size, shape, texture and taste.

Benefits of Food Extrusion

Extrusion cooking is becoming popular over other common processing methods due to its automated control, high capacity, continuous operation, high productivity, versatility, adaptability, energy efficiency, and low cost. Moreover, it enables design and development of new food products, high product quality, unique product shapes and characteristics, energy savings and no effluent generation.

 

The most popular extrusion cooked products include:

 

Direct extruded snacks, RTE (ready to eat) cereal flakes and a variety of breakfast Foods produced from cereal material and differing in shape, color and taste and easy to handle in terms of production;

Snack pellets, half products destined for fried or hot air expanded snacks, pre-cooked pasta;

Baby food, pre-cooked flours, instant concentrates, functional components;

Pet food, aquafeed, feed concentrates and calf milk replacers;

Texturized vegetable protein (mainly from soybeans, though not always) used in the production of meat analogues;

Crispbread, bread crumbs, emulsions and pastes;

Baro-thermally processed products for the pharmaceutical, chemical, paper and brewing industry;

Confectionery: different kinds of sweets, chewing gum.

Facilities

Concurrent double-screw extruder, Mill, Mixer, Tunnel drier, Coating machine, Packaging.

Product Developments

Puffed snacks containing various pulses; sprouted pulses; cereals; oilseeds; dairy proteins; oilseed meal; fruit juice and tomato paste factory wastes; bakery wastes, Baby food containing milk proteins and beetroot, Various synbiotic  and low-fat flavor coating formulations, stabilized rice and wheat bran, Cereal based instant drink powder, Texturized soy (whole).