Shear cell technology

Shear cell technology was first developed by scientists at Wageningen University and Research (WUR), inspired from the concept of rheometer. Protein ingredients are subjected to well-defined shear flow deformation which produces a fibrous product with clear hierarchy, an important characteristic of meat. The final structure obtained with this technique depends on the ingredients and the processing conditions. The process in which the fibers are formed and their length, can be adjusted in the shear cell device, which allows controllable, desirable product look, taste and texture.

Imagine a drum washing machine or a mortar-and-pestle. The highly dense-packed protein ingredients are subjected to friction and temperature, which causes the proteins to denature and thin out and cross-link in a certain fashion.

The application of adjustable, well-defined flow appears to be novel for creating anisotropic food structures, which are often encountered in protein-rich foods such as meat and fish. The flow-induced formation of anisotropic (i.e. lamellar and bundle-like) structures often result in separated phases, micro- and macro-. Structure formation itself is a mutual effort of protein properties and processing.

For instance, closely packed calcium caseinate system with strong attractive interactions was thermodynamically close to instability, resulting in shear-induced micro-phase separation in protein-rich and protein-poor phases, which led to layer formation.

Shear cell technology provides a unique platform to discover and improve understanding of the behavior of protein-rich materials during processing.