Food engineering seen under a multidisciplinary approach

Since technology and science saw fit to enter into the complementation and maturation of the necessary knowledge to contribute to the processing and conservation of food, it was understood that it is fair and necessary to use the technology intrinsic to engineering, for this In particular, food engineering, for this it is necessary to have a vision of equipment, since all the knowledge in the area of food engineering is large and diverse. In the present article I want to develop a series of aspects that will help us to understand in this case how a multidisciplinary team would work in order to meet the objectives of industrial development and food processing and conservation.

Work and scope of the multidisciplinary team from my perspective

If we talk about a multidisciplinary team within the food engineering is because we are aware that we need a diversity of knowledge working together and in cohesion, this knowledge has to be shared among people who dominate different areas of knowledge such as:

Microbiology: it is important that within the work team there are specialized engineers in microbiology, since in the industrialization and processing of many large-scale foods it is necessary to study and understand micro-cellular organisms, which in some cases affect well or wrong to the production of food.

Chemistry: Undoubtedly the branch that he considered of paramount importance, even within the sub branches of food engineering is chemical engineering, so chemistry plays a leading role, within our academic formation we see it as chemistry general, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, which of course is supported by the number of laboratories that are given great importance, since that is where we exercise our experimental part. In the workplace, the chemical team will provide the necessary knowledge, especially to provide this part of laboratory tests, and the reactions that many foods experience when entering the conservation process.

Applied Physics: when it speaks to applied physics I refer to that set of knowledge that is acquired in the academy referring to classical physics, to the part of electricity, which at the time of engineering design takes relevant importance, I can say that this part of the team plays a key role in what to apply engineering refers.

If the industry employs chemical engineers and food engineers, the multidisciplinary team will gain strength if these two professionals work as a team, since they are industrially compatible with the objectives that the food company can set, however there are other professionals that seem to They did not have much to do, but in my opinion they must be linked to this duo, and it is nothing more than agricultural engineers and mechanical engineers.

Let's understand a little more about the team, the food engineer together with the chemical engineer are a fundamental part of the industry in the processing and conservation of food, but the one who supplies the raw material is the agricultural engineer, who knows the quality of the product that is supplied to process, therefore the relationship and communication between them is paramount. Without the existence and operation of the machines, there is no way of processing and preserving the raw material, so the relationship of the chemical engineer and food pair with the mechanical engineer is essential.

Scope and new visions to be adopted if the multidisciplinary team is employed

For nobody is a secret that the world population is growing at an accelerated rate, this growth among one of the many things that demand is food and in very large quantities, so the demand for production and conservation of these foods, makes that they have to preserve more, since many of them have a long to medium duration if they are subjected to conservation processing.

Many of these processes involve new technologies, technologies that in themselves are involved with the scientific progress that can be developed, this is where the disciplinary team, that is to say, all the professionals involved in the generation of food for today's society has to be committed to scientific and technological progress, it is not enough to do the routine work, a sacrifice has to be made to optimize the relevant studies that help in the discovery of new technologies, to get involved with science to find and adopt new scientific models that fit in the theory that processed foods last longer, clear as long as we respect consumer health standards.

Some reflections and considerations of some images of public domain that have reference with the activity of processing and conservation of foods. Relationship with the multidisciplinary team

• Factory automation with industrial robots to transport food products such as bread and toast in a bakery.

Image source

It can be seen that this set of robotic machines optimize the time and efficiency of storage of the byproducts, now within the multidisciplinary team scheme, this system would not fit if we do not have the team that commands the mechanical engineer and maintainers, and perhaps I also need engineers in electronics.

• Beef refrigerator system.

Image Source

In this production system we can perfectly fit the multidisciplinary team mentioned above, the food engineer and chemical engineer work to find the best slaughtering technique where cattle do not stress as much and preserve soft muscles for better quality meat. The agricultural engineer, which in this case can be agricultural in consensus with the chemical and food engineer provides the best livestock to be subsequently conserved. The mechanical engineer adopts the best cooling systems and distribution channels of the cattle.

Conclusions

I want to conclude by saying that this is one of the many examples that any of you can create with a lot of imagination, creativity, but above all responsibility, understanding that nothing is written, and that the models and laws that govern our universe have always existed, it's just a lack of using our common sense to discover great things.

I hope it has been to everyone's taste and that they can use it in their practical conditions of daily life and work.