Handbook of Food Science and Technology 3

Figure I.1
. New products and assembly technology 
I.1. From empiricism to rational technology
The oldest forms of processing (milk to cheese, grain to bread or beer, 
grapes to wine, muscle to meat, etc.) were based on biological phenomena 
that could occur naturally under specific water content and temperature 
conditions, since the biological agents (enzymes or microorganisms) 
responsible for processing and the reaction substrates and growth factors 
were present in the raw materials and/or immediate environment; it was 
enough to simply mature (milk, meat), crush, grind and sometimes hydrate 
(fruit, grain) in order for biological reactions to take place. This is why these 
types of products were able to develop based solely on the observation of 
natural processes.
The knowledge acquired since the end of the 19th Century in the field of 
microbiology and the early 20th Century in the field of enzymology has 
gradually helped explain the biological phenomena involved in the 
development of certain food products. Based on this knowledge, the food 
industry has sought to control these processes rather than witness them, 
Foods
Raw materials
Biological agents
microorganisms - enzymes 
Thermal & mechanical
treatments
maturation - grinding – water
heating - salting - etc.
Assembly
Proteins - Lipids 
Sugars – Aromas
Coloring
Constituents
Separation
chemical
enzymatic – microbial
engineering
Functional ingredients
Texture agent
Sweetener
Aroma, coloring

---

Introduction xiii 
which is how the fermentation and then an enzyme industry arose, producing 
and marketing biological agents for each type of processing. The use of 
fermentation and in some cases enzymes has become indispensable given the 
existing food safety requirements, which include increasingly stringent 
hygiene conditions in production and processing, and technological 
treatments to eliminate potential pathogenic microorganisms (microfiltration, 
heat treatment). This change has led to a reduction in the endogenous 
biological potential, which needs to be replenished by adding fermentation 
steps and enzymes. Reconstituting microbial ecosystems through the 
assembly of exogenous flora requires the identification of the endogenous 
flora and their role in the characteristic features of the food; progress in the 
field of molecular biology should enable significant progress in this area.
Over the past 40 years, many teams have focused on the study of food 
science, which has resulted in a better understanding of the composition of 
various raw materials and the biological and physicochemical mechanisms 
involved in the development of texture, flavor and aroma; this work has 
allowed the food industry to better identify the key technological tools in the 
development of quality, and to rely less on empiricism and more on 
technology.