50
FEB 2017
FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SMART
PRODUCTION
Beverage products undergo multiple quality control
tests, including acidity, pH and Brixmeasurements, to
ensure that consumers get the most from their juices
and sodas.
Thesemeasurementscannowbedonewithinasingleautosampler
system
1
thatalso includesdegassing.AtRamseierSuisseAG,a leading
Swissbeverageproducer, thishasspedup thequalitycontrolworkflow
by around 10minutes per sample.
RamseierSuisseAGhasseveraldecadesofexperience inbeverage
production and holds a solid position in the Swiss beverage market
thanks to selling their own brands, including Ramseier, Sinalco and
Elmer, andproducingavarietyof other beveragesunder private labels.
Thestrictqualitystandards in the industry require runningseveralquality
control tests on the products before they reach the consumer.With so
many different products, efficient and reliablequality control is crucial.
TediousMulti-instrument TestingandDegassing
The most important QC tests performed on any beverage before it
reaches themarket are density, sugar content (Brix), acidity, pH and,
for carbonatedbeverages, theCO
2
content.Additional parametersmay
alsobedetermined,e.g.vitaminC,coloror turbidity.AtRamseier,correct
degassing isnecessary for the standardquality controlmeasurements
thatarecarriedoutafterCO
2
concentrationdeterminationonaCO
2
tester.
Originally, to prepare their samples for analysis, Ramseier completely
degassed themusing a separate vacuum pumpandmagnetic stirrer.
This degassing procedure was time consuming and each QC
parameterwas thendeterminedonadiscrete instrument.This required
manually cleaning each instrument andmanually entering each result
into a data base. Theworkload for the lab technicians reached a very
high level,particularlyafter theweekendwhensamples fromproduction
hadaccumulated in the lab.
DegassingwithASingleAutosampler System
1
The procedure using a vacuum pump and magnetic stirrer to degas
carbonatedbeverages tookup to twominutesper sampleand required
manualoperation.However,anovel solutionwas foundwhichdegasses
directly in the sample beaker. This is achieved using an overhead
compact stirrer at gradually increasing speeds (too quickly at the
beginningwould create toomuch foam) andanadditional pumpwhich
blows air into the beaker releasing the CO
2
bubbles to the surface.
The duration and speed of the stirring function have been optimized
for different product types to reduce degassing time. Not only does
automatic degassing save time, but operator dependency is also
eliminated.Mr.Kunz, theQualityAssuranceManageratRamseier,states
“theautomated degassing process turned out to be very repeatable”.
All Parameters inASingleRun
Insteadofcarryingout routineanalysisonseparate instruments,asingle
autosamplersystem
1
demonstratedamoreefficient,automatedsystem.
Thissystemcombinedadensitymeter, refractive indexcell and titrator,
all automated with the new and innovative autosampler system
1
. The
systemwasdesignedso that theoperator needonlyplace thesamples
on the autosampler rack and choose the product to bemeasured via
the shortcut
2
on the touchscreen of the density meter
3
. The density
meter, in this case, acts as themaster instrument of thewhole system
(the flexible programming of the instruments allows a choice of master
instrument).The refractive indexcell
4
wasplacedvertically toavoidany
pulpor solidparticles from juicesettlingonto theprismandaffecting the
accuracy of themeasurement.
In the first step of the analysis, the titrator measures pH directly
in the beaker placed on the sample rack while stirring with a compact
stirrer. Then thedensitymeter, refractive index cell and sample loop (5
mL)of the liquidsamplingvalve
5
arefilledwithsample.While thedensity
and refractive index determinationarebeingperformed, thepositionof
the valve switches automatically and the sample contained within the
sample loop ispumpedwithdeionizedwater into the titrationbeaker for
titration. As soon as the titration has finished, the acidity content data
aresent to thedensitymeter
3
where thesugar:acidity ratio iscalculated
andall samplemeasurementsarestoredanddisplayed.Aschematicof
the system is shown inFigure 1.
LowComplexity, HighEfficiency
Depending on the sample, the titration endpoint is either pH 7.0 or 8.1
and, depending on the type of acid to be determined, different factors
areused in theaciditycalculation.With theautomatedsystem, theuser
doesnotneed toenter thesesettingsoreven thecorrect titrationmethod.
The complete analysis can be started directly from the touch screen
3
by simply selecting the correct shortcut
2
for the product.
For theoperator, thewholeworkflow formeasuringroutineparameters
is reduced toa fewsteps:placing thebeakerswith thesample (e.g. juices)
on the rack, selecting the correct shortcut for the product group (e.g.
for juice it would be the shortcut ‘citric’ as citric acid is of interest) and
entering the number of samples and the associated sample ID.After a
measurement series or in the evening, the system can be flushed and
filledwithDIwaterwithasingleclick.Atest toensureabsolutecleanness
of the density and refractometer cells can alsobe integrated.
Not only has the automated systemmade testing less complicated
forRamseier, ithas reduced the total time requiredpersample.Mr.Kunz
adds “With the fullyautomaticcombinedanalysiswehavesavedat least
10minutes per sampleand results arehighly repeatable.” Sowhile the
multiparameter systemwith autosampler system
1
is doing the routine
job, the lab technicians havemore time to focus onother tasks.
ACustomizedModular System
The instruments are fully modular and this automated system was
specifically built according to the requirements of Ramseier Suisse
AG. Themeasuredparametersand the instruments requiredwithin the
systemcanbecustomizedaccording to individual requirements (e.g. to
measureBrix and pH only).
Furthermore, thesystemcanbeequippedwithPCsoftware
6
foreasy
and secure data handling and automatic data exchange with a LIMS/
ERPsystem.Thesystemcanbeadapted tomeet anyspecificneed, for
example, integratinga built-inor handheld barcode reader.
Multiparameter
BeverageAnalysis
