Chemometric applications of thermally produced compounds as time-temperature integrators in aseptic processing of particulate foods.

The chemometric principle was used to derive a guideline for obtaining a simple "yes or no" answer about the sterility of food particulates heated at aseptic processing temperatures. A quadratic temperature pulse model was used to estimate bacterial destruction from the fractional yield of thermally produced chemical marker compounds (2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4(H)-pyran-4-one, M-1, and 4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone, M-2) and the rate constants and the activation energies of the chemical and bacterial systems. The model yielded a conservative estimate of lethality at the center of meat-balls heated under different time-temperature conditions. A scheme for determining the minimum marker yield for a designated Fo-value is provided.