Development of Induction Sealer and its Application in Food Packaging

Abstract: Curd is a dairy product that is produced by coagulation of milk in a process known as curdling. It is one of the staples in all the pantries of our kitchen. It has the goodness of in calcium, vitamin B-2, vitamin B-12 and potassium. Recent years, sealing and packaging has become a big activity for the manufacturing sector, as proper finishing and packaging helps keep a company green as well as helps to improve a product's shelf life. Sealing is a method of sealing the product contents safely and hermetically, through cans or bottles. The dairy industry could achieve a shelf-life of 45 days by using processes of Ultra-Pasteurization (UP), while the curds/yogurt processed at Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) achieve a shelf-life of three months to one year without refrigeration. One way of improving shelf life is by sealing via the induction heating process. In this study, curd cups were sealed with specific packaging material then introduced with induction heating to increase their shelf life, considering the advantages of sealing induction and its application in food processing which is an energy efficient and renewable alternative energy source for thermal processing.

Keywords: Autoclave, heating efficiency, Incubator Shaker, Induction sealer, sealing time, sealing temperature, shelf life.