The Effect of the Concentration of the Fish Processing Offal Powder, of the Humidity Level and of the Cross-Sectional Area of the Die Molding Channel on the Technological Parameters of the Extrusion Process and on the Quality Characteristics of Potato Snacks

Abstract

The investigation is focused on solving the problems of protein deficiency in the diets of the megacities population and on the cost-effective utilization of the offal from processing salmon fishes through the development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technology for the potato snacks production. The aim of the work is to study the process of obtaining extruded expanded potato-based snacks in a single-screw extruder and to develop through an empirical research a method of industrial production of potato snacks enriched with proteins from the offal of processing salmon fishes. As a result of the study, it was established that the addition of 10% of offal salmon fish powder processing to potato flakes provided a fairly high nutritional value, good organoleptic and physic-chemically parameters in all extrudate samples. We also established the kinetics of extrusion of the fish-potato mixture, more specifically, we found out that the dependences between the initial moisture content in the mixture and the pressure in the extruder chamber, and between the initial humidity and the temperature in the chamber are inversely proportional; the dependence between the expansion ratio and the starch content in the extruded mixture is directly proportional, and the dependence between the expansion ration and the molding channel diameter is inversely proportional. Solutions obtained in the investigation can be used by enterprises engaged in the production of extruded snacks in order to optimize the working conditions of extrusion of potato extrudates and to reduce production costs.