Abstract
Process monitoring for characterization, authentication, and detection of contaminants and assurance of the quality of food products during production and distribution has become indispensable due to the modernization, development of rapid methodologies and consumer awareness towards quality and safety of raw material and processed food items. Process analytical technologies (PAT), common in pharmaceutical industries to monitor the process, are also being used widely in food processing operations to fulfill the industrial requirements and scientific challenges. PAT includes different rapid, non-destructive and sensor-based techniques which can be utilized to monitor the food complexity from raw material to final product development. These methodologies are based on near infrared, Raman, and fluorescence spectroscopic approaches which yield not only the prediction of process parameters but also control the critical steps that generate the abnormalities during the processing operation. The adoption of PAT application in the food sector is still a big challenge in the developing countries like Pakistan due to complexity and variation in the raw material used in the food production, lack of awareness, scarce resources and increased cost of production. However, PAT applications have a great potential to provide not only effective monitoring, process control, identification of critical points and set their limits but also used for proper communication among the suppliers and consumers. The documentation of different process parameters through PAT applications can also guaranteed the traceability of the food items. Hence, it can be concluded that PAT application should be adopted to provide the reliability and automation of the process in food industries for economic gain, management of scarce resources and reduction of production cost.