Having high-purity Natural AITC does not in itself mean having a ready-to-use technology for the food industry.
Between Natural AITC ≥97% and meat, fish, seafood or another food product, there is usually an intermediate technological stage. Its purpose is to deliver the required amount of AITC to the product in a controlled manner.
The delivery method can influence antimicrobial effectiveness, AITC consumption, sensory impact, process control and the possibility of industrial-scale application.
1. Direct Application
The most straightforward approach is to introduce AITC directly into a food product or food formulation.
This approach is particularly understandable in flavour applications, where the characteristic mustard, horseradish or wasabi profile is part of the desired sensory character of the final product.
For antimicrobial applications, however, direct addition presents another challenge. AITC has an intense flavour and aroma, so an antimicrobially effective concentration must also remain acceptable for the sensory characteristics of the food.
2. Liquid Systems and Emulsions
AITC has limited miscibility with water. For aqueous processing operations, specially prepared formulations such as emulsions can therefore be used or investigated.
A working formulation may be applied for surface treatment, immersion, washing, dipping or other processing operations.
This approach is particularly interesting for fish and seafood, where product treatment before chilling and packaging is already part of many industrial processing operations.
However, knowing the concentration of the original AITC alone is not sufficient. The formulation, emulsion stability, working concentration, contact time, temperature and subsequent packaging must all be considered as parts of the technology.
3. AITC in the Vapour Phase
One of the most interesting physical properties of AITC is its high volatility.
After evaporation, AITC molecules can distribute through the headspace of a closed package and interact with exposed product surfaces.
This makes it possible to develop systems in which concentrated AITC does not need to be applied directly to the food surface.
For vapour-phase technologies, important variables include package volume, quantity of AITC, release rate, temperature, product characteristics and storage time.
4. Controlled-Release Systems
If free AITC is simply introduced into a package, it may be released too rapidly. One of the key technological challenges is therefore to control the rate at which AITC becomes available.
Different carrier systems are being investigated for this purpose, including films, sachets, capsules, pads, coatings and polymer matrices.
AITC is first retained by or incorporated into a carrier and is then released progressively into the package environment.
The objective is not necessarily to create the highest possible concentration immediately, but to maintain an appropriate concentration for a defined period of time.
A controlled-release system is therefore a technology in its own right, rather than simply a container for AITC.
5. Active Packaging
A further development is the integration of the AITC delivery mechanism into the packaging system itself.
A film, insert, pad or another packaging component can become a functional part of the preservation technology.
The resulting system can be viewed as an interaction between:
All of these elements interact. A technology developed for one product, such as beef, therefore cannot automatically be transferred to shrimp, fish or vegetables without appropriate evaluation.
Why Can't a Food Processor Simply Use a Canister of AITC?
Natural AITC ≥97% is a raw material. For the food processor, the practical questions begin after the raw material has been obtained.
How should the working formulation be prepared?
How should it be applied?
How long should the product be treated?
At what temperature?
How should the product subsequently be packaged?
What shelf-life effect can be achieved?
How will taste and aroma be affected?
What will treatment cost per tonne of product?
It is at this stage that a chemical raw material begins to become an industrial technology.
From AITC Producer to Final Food Product
The practical technological chain can be represented as:
For each industrial application, this chain must be developed and validated according to the characteristics of the particular product and process.
The future development of Natural AITC technologies therefore lies not only with producers of the molecule itself, but at the intersection of food technology, formulation chemistry, packaging technology and industrial processing.