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- Fall 1996 "Update" Newsletter Article -
New processing line planned
Small-scale production venue for research, production of new products
From CATI Publication #961001
Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.
An old building is going to be the source of several new products this school year, thanks to the efforts of faculty affiliates of Fresno State's Center for Food Science and Nutrition Research (CFSNR).
The products include a strawberry or raspberry jam and a "fresh-cilantro" salsa developed by a team of students and faculty. Preparation will take place in a new food processing laboratory assembled on campus under the supervision of Dennis Ferris, assistant professor in the Department of Enology, Food Science and Nutrition, and an affiliate with the CFSNR. The lab has been in the planning stages for more than a year and is housed in a section of the university's dairy processing plant on Barstow Avenue.
Equipment includes roughly $100,000 worth of donated, borrowed and purchased items. And according to Ferris, it is just what is needed to support initial research being conducted under the CFSNR.
"Basically everything is in place and ready to go. It will be a first class operation when its done," he said.
The most important pieces of equipment include a $30,000 Fulton high-pressure boiler that will provide steam and heat for processing food products. The boiler was donated from another campus department that no longer needed it. Also donated were the major components for a high-acid canning line, including a steam jacketed kettle for mixing, and a capper/filler unit. The capper/filler is being leased to the university by the Lyons-Magnus company of Fresno, for $1 a year, serving essentially as a donation, Ferris said.
Additional equipment in the 1,000-square-foot processing area will be a refrigerator and freezer, mixing and washing stations, a sink, and several other smaller processing machines.
One of the first products off the processing line this academic year will be a salsa featuring the herb cilantro, which will be specially processed in Fresno State's patented microwave vacuum (MIVAC) drying unit.
The MIVAC-dried cilantro will be added during the last moments of processing, with the goal of retaining fresh cilantro flavor in the finished salsa, Ferris said. The salsa will initially be produced in small batches of 6 to 12 jars, after which it will undergo sensory evaluation by panels of taste testers. Once the recipe and processing methods are finalized, production will be scaled up to lots of 200-300 jars. That will be followed by a shelf-life study, then sale of the product through the university farm market.
The salsa project includes master's degree research for two graduate students, Karla Carlsen and Ernesto Duran. Funds supporting the students' work have come through a number of small grants, while most of the support for equipment purchases has come through the CFSNR, one of four research centers of the California Agricultural Technology Institute (CATI).
Two of the CFSNR's goals are to encourage the development of new food products, and to bring faculty and students together in research that will support the food processing industry. But the lab will be used for more than just CFSNR projects, noted Marie Dunford, associate professor in the Department of Enology, Food Science and Nutrition, and also director of the CFSNR. "Our desire is to make this an interdisciplinary facility that will support both faculty research and student production projects," she said.
Ferris agreed, noting that both students and faculty in the Food Science Program are excited to have an actual processing facility on campus. "It is essential for giving students the type of hands-on learning that will serve them in the commercial world. The more we can show them here, the better off they will be when they get out there," he said.
The lab also will enhance cooperation between the university and industry, he added. "Once we are up and running, the industry is going to be interested to see what we can do. They can come here and ask us to solve problems for them on a small scale, without incurring major costs."
Ferris hopes to have the processing line operational and the first jam available through the farm market by the end of this year. His salsa team has targeted April of 1997 for sale of their product. For more information about the CFSNR and its programs, call (559) 278-5924.
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CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE - CATI
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
California State University, Fresno