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This model shows an ocean-faring tanker used to transport not-from-concentrate orange juice overseas. Such tankers use bulk aseptic processing, a sterile storage technique created by Purdue food science professor Phil Nelson, to transport up to 8 million gallons of juice. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
Orange juice on the high seas
Technololgy transfer in Purdue Agriculture doesn't only affect commodity crops. Fresh orange juice—once a rarity in Europe and other countries—now travels the world in ocean-faring tankers, thanks to the pioneering research of Phil Nelson, professor of food science. Nelson's invention of bulk aseptic, or sterile, processing allowed for the production and worldwide shipping of large quantities of not-from-concentrate orange juice. But the benefits of aseptic processing extend beyond the orange juice industry, profiting other food processing industries as well.
In aseptic processing, a sterilized food product is placed in a sterilized container within the confines of a sterile environment—a system that ensures the purity of a food product through the entire packaging process. Aseptic processing, combined with a type of packaging invented by the late William Scholle, a Purdue graduate, made possible the long-term storage and transport of fresh fruits and vegetables. Together, these technologies are known as aseptic packaging, a development named the “most significant food science innovation in the last 50 years,” by the Institute of Food Technologists. That technology is ubiquitous today in the form of juice drink boxes, wine in a box, cartoned milk and orange juice, and countless other packaged foods.
Purdue originally granted exclusive access to the technology to Tropicana, one of the world's largest orange juice producers, who arranged to ship fresh orange juice overseas in specialized ships—much like oil tankers—capable of carrying 8 million gallons of juice. Tropicana's arrangement with Purdue later led to industry-wide adoption of aseptic processing of fresh orange juice.
"The impact of that technology transfer to one company influenced an entire industry,” says Suzanne Nielsen, professor and head of the Department of Food Science. “The not-from-concentrate orange juice you buy in the grocery store is possible because of the technology developed at Purdue.”
Technology transfer can work in the opposite direction, as well, Nielsen says, pointing to the department's Industrial Associates Program, a cooperative arrangement with numerous food-processing companies, including Frito-Lay, General Mills, Kraft Foods and Nestlé. “Many companies are interested in being associated with our department for the access we provide to scientific expertise in food processing,” Nielsen says. “We benefit from these partnerships, which give our students and faculty opportunities for collaborative research.”
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