Sonication shows promise in production of cream tea staples

Such toppings are a staple of cream teas but can become less palatable when factoring the energy required to make them. High temperatures are needed to make conserves, high-powered machines are used to whip cream, and processes often run for a long time.

Dr Carmen Torres-Sanchez, leader of the Multifunctional Materials Manufacturing (MMM) Lab in the Wolfson School, has been exploring the feasibility of using ultrasound in manufacturing – sonication – in a lab-based study co-funded by PERA International Ltd. The process is said to use less energy, helps to retain more nutrients, and creates longer-life products.

The study is still in its feasibility stage, but Dr Torres-Sanchez said her early findings – which she hopes to build on in collaboration with industrial partners and then publish in a peer-reviewed journal paper – look ‘promising’.

“Our studies so far suggest that sonication-aided cooking process of jams and conserves results in lower peak temperatures and quicker gelation,” she said in a statement. “This may have the benefit of better preservation of vitamins and nutrients – which are damaged by long-term exposure to heat using traditional methods – in the final product.