New classifier of quick-frozen foodstuffs

For citation: Feskov O.A., Novosad T.P., Spiridonov A.L., Hemerov N.V. New classifier of quick-frozen foodstuffs. Journal of International Academy of Refrigeration. 2025. No 2. p. 72-81. DOI: 10.17586/1606-4313-2025-24-2-72-81

Abstract
A brief analysis of the global and Russian frozen food markets is presented, reflecting the main trends in its development, including forecasting its volumes for the period for 2035, as well as the special role of such products in the nutrition of the world's population. The urgency of creating new freezing technologies and efficient designs of rapid-freezing equipment for processing large volumes of food raw materials with a high level of nutritional and biological value is noted. The description for the first version of the classification model of fast-freezing facilities, consisting of nine classes of food products with a total of 97 names, is presented, for the creation of which the authors applied two criteria – the physical nature of the products and the values of their moisture content W, and, in some cases, fat content F, as well as an assessment of the main disadvantages with justification of the relevance of its improvement. Аnew version of the classifier of fast-freezing facilities with a total of 769 items has been proposed, allowing for the expansion of the range of products subject to refrigeration in already formed classes, subclasses and product groups, introducing new classes, as well as taking into account the amount of fat content F for all the objects, without any exception. New equations have been developed for calculating the thermophysical characteristics of food classifier objects with a moisture content of less than 30% and a fat content of more than 15%. For the entire range of objects in the new version of the classifier, the values of the main thermophysical characteristics, including cryoscopic temperature, as well as their average values by groups, subclasses and classes, have been determined. The obtained new values of thermophysical characteristics for the entire range of classifier objects can be used in scientific research when developing practical recommendations on rational process modes in each specific case, and also represent an element of practical optimization in the engineering design of compact structures of freezing equipment that meet modern technological, economic and environmental requirements.