Enhancement of Oil Spreadability of Biscuit Surface by Nonthermal Barrier Discharge Plasma
Document Type Article
N.N. Misra, Carl Sullivan, S.K. Pankaj, Laura Alvarez-Jubete, Raquel Cama, Frank Jacoby, P.J. Cullen (2014) Enhancement of oil spreadability of biscuit surface by nonthermal barrier discharge plasma, Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, Volume 26, Pages 456-61
Abstract
The application of non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma for altering the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of polymer surfaces is well known. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of DBD plasma in enhancing the surface hydrophobicity of freshly baked biscuits, evident from the increased spread area of vegetable oil. The electrical and optical characteristics of the DBD plasma source have also been described. The spread area of individual oil drops has been measured using a digital image analysis technique. An exponential order of increase in the spread area has been observed at 80 kV with respect to treatment time, following DBD treatment. The findings reported in this work have applications in the industrial preparation of biscuit and cracker variants, where post-baking oil spray is desired. The effect of plasma treatments on the chemical constituents of biscuit requires further investigation.