Sucrose acid hydrolysis was studied as a potential chemical time‐temperature integrator to use under pasteurization conditions. A nonisothermal method was used to determine the kinetic parameters of this reaction at different pH values in the range of 0.8 to 2.5 and covering the range of temperatures from 50 to 90G. the nonisothermal method was first validated with the classical two‐step isothermal method at pH 2.5. Kinetic parameters showed to be highly collinear (correlation of 0.99), but it was concluded that the activation energy can be assumed independent of pH and equal to 99 kJ/mole with the preexponential factor being proportional to the H+ concentration. Results are favorable for the future application of this system in the evaluation of pasteurization processes. Since the activation energy was found to be independent of the pH, this system is useful as a TTI for validation of mathematical models, but not so much for monitoring quality factors, except those with an equal activation energy.

Sterilization temperatures to maximize volume average or surface quality retention were calculated for one‐dimensional conduction heating foods as a function of (1) Food Properties, (2) Processing Conditions and (3) Processing Criteria. A target lethality at the least‐lethality point was used as a constraint, and optimal temperatures were qualitatively and quantitatively compared for equal design variables. Average quality optimum conditions depend linearly on the inverse square of the Drefq‐value for the quality factor. These conditions do not vary linearly with all the other influential variables, opposite to what had been observed for surface quality. Optimum temperature for maximum average quality is always higher than the corresponding one for surface quality, but the difference is not constant. A systematic approach to the dependence of average quality optimal conditions on all the relevant parameters was carried out and quantitative relations were obtained. Optimum average quality retention is independent of surface heat transfer resistance.