Combined use of the equivalent point method and a multicomponent time-temperature integrator in thermal process evaluation: influence of kinetic characteristics and reference temperature

Abstract

Possibilities for and restrictions to the combined use of a multi component time-temperature integrator (TTI) and the equivalent point method (EPM) to quantify the impact of a thermal process were considered in this theoretical study. The impact on Clostridium botulinum spores, chosen as target quality attribute in this study can be represented fairly by an ‘equivalent point’ when the activation energies of the constituents making up the multicomponent TTI are close to the activation energy of the target quality attribute (error ⩽1%) but substantial errors (up to 60%) may arise when the activation energies of target and multicomponent TTI constituents differ largely. By reconsidering the temperature histories with three different reference temperatures (∞, 423K, 394.1 K). the importance of this rescaling parameter was found to be negligible. The combined use of a multicomponent TTI and the EPM to quantify the impact of a thermal process will require careful verification.