Infrared Thermal Treatment & Microbial Reduction
Uniform thermal treatment and microbial reduction, quality preserved
Micronizing technology applies high intensity infrared energy to deliver fast, uniform thermal treatment across a wide range of food and feed ingredients.
This controlled process can support microbial load reduction while maintaining the natural colour, flavour, and functional properties of the treated material.
Performance should be confirmed through product specific trials and validation where defined microbial targets are required.
Benefits of Infrared Microbial Reduction
The Micronizer provides precise thermal control with minimal moisture loss, making it well suited to heat sensitive ingredients.
Its uniform infrared heating is designed to help reduce microbial load without damaging delicate powders, herbs, spices, or dehydrated materials used in food and feed applications. Any confirmed reduction level should be established through testing on the specific material and process conditions.
- Rapid thermal treatment to support microbial load reduction for herbs, spices, dehydrated vegetables, cereals, pulses, and specialty ingredients
- Continuous, controllable thermal process with adjustable residence time and temperature
- Minimal moisture loss and no product scorching
- Integrated cooling options for immediate product stabilisation
- Can support food safety objectives when validated against product specific requirements
Process Plant Flow for Infrared Microbial Reduction
Typical equipment configuration for an infrared microbial reduction line:
Suitable Materials for Infrared Microbial Reduction
Infrared Micronizing can support microbial reduction across a wide range of food and feed ingredients.
Especially for materials requiring controlled thermal treatment and product quality preservation:
- Herbs
- Spices
- Dehydrated vegetables
- Cereals & grains
- Pulses & legumes
- Plant powders
- Extract powders
- Seeds
- Seasoning blends & functional mixes
- Feed ingredients requiring microbial control
…and other heat sensitive food and feed materials where microbial reduction, product safety, and quality preservation are essential.
Evaluate Microbial Reduction in the Maze R&D Lab
Test Before You Invest: Assess Microbial Reduction Performance on Your Own Materials
Maze’s fully equipped R&D facility allows customers to run trials using their own feedstocks. This helps assess whether the process can meet specific microbial reduction targets before committing to production scale equipment. Results should be validated for the material, target organisms, and operating conditions required.
What R&D Trials Provide
- Full process setup and parameter optimisation
- Microbial reduction data on your actual ingredient
- Technical report covering trial conditions, observed performance, and recommendations
- Evidence to support validation and scale up decisions where compliance targets apply