Heat treatment

How it is used

Used in process descriptions, HACCP plans and research. A heat treatment is always defined by time and temperature together: 'a heat treatment of 90 °C for 10 minutes'. Engineers also say 'thermal processing'. Too much heat damages color, flavor and vitamins, so the aim is the mildest treatment that is still safe.

Example sentences

1. The heat treatment must bring the center of the product to at least 75 °C.

2. A milder heat treatment kept the fresh color of the strawberry puree.

Common collocations

• mild heat treatment
• heat treatment step
• time-temperature combination
• thermal processing
• core temperature

Related terms

• pasteurizationA mild heat treatment that kills most disease-causing and many spoilage microorganisms while keeping the taste and nutrients of the food as unchanged as possible.
• sterilizationA treatment, usually with high heat, that destroys microorganisms and their spores so that a food can be stored at room temperature without spoiling or becoming unsafe.
• blanchingA short heat treatment in hot water or steam, followed by quick cooling, used on vegetables and some fruits mainly to inactivate enzymes before freezing, canning or drying.
• D-valueThe time needed at a given temperature to kill 90 percent of a population of a particular microorganism, which is a one-log reduction.
• heat exchangerA piece of equipment that transfers heat between two fluids without mixing them, for example to heat milk with hot water or to cool it with ice water.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• heat treatment · Mechanical Engineering

More terms: Preservation and Heat Treatment

• refrigeration
• freezing
• drying
• canning
• UHT