Energy Consumption and Process Efficiency as Affected by Extrusion-Cooking Conditions and Recipe Formulation During the Production of Gluten-Free Rice-Legumes Products

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of extrusioncooking conditions (moisture content and screw speed) and recipe formulation on process efficiency and energy consumption during the extrusion-cooking of gluten-free rice-legumes products, shaped for spaghetti-type pasta. Process efficiency (Q) was determined through measurement of the pasta weight and energy consumption was determined using specific mechanical energy consumption (SME). According to the obtained results, screw speed had a great significant impact on Q and SME values which increased as screw speed increased. Moisture content of raw materials had also a significant effect on Q and SME mainly at low screw speed applied. The process efficiency increased with the increase of raw materials moisture content while reverse observations were noted for the energy consumption. On the contrary, variations of recipe formulations did not affect the measured parameters.