Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Science of the Total Environment, cilt.1008, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
This study presents a comparative cradle-to-distribution Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of two industrial-scale thermal processing methods “deep frying and tunnel steam drying” used in instant noodle manufacturing. While both techniques are widely adopted, their environmental trade-offs have not been systematically compared under harmonized system boundaries and functional units (FU). In this study, 1 kg of the product at the factory gate was selected as the functional unit. Using the ReCiPe 2016 method (v1.11) at both midpoint and endpoint levels, and adhering to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, we evaluated the environmental performance of each method across multiple impact categories including global warming potential (GWP), human toxicity (HTP), fossil resource scarcity (FRS), and water consumption (WCP). Primary inventory data were collected from a production facility in Tekirdağ, Türkiye, and modeled using SimaPro 10.2.0.0, supported by the Ecoinvent and Agri-footprint databases. The results revealed that tunnel drying generally led to lower environmental impacts in categories such as GWP and HTP, primarily due to the absence of palm oil. However, it incurred higher burdens in particulate matter formation and fossil resource depletion due to increased electricity and gas usage. In contrast, deep frying, although more energy-efficient per unit of product, imposed higher overall environmental impacts, with palm oil use emerging as a critical contributor. Contribution analysis highlighted palm oil, electricity, wheat flour, and packaging materials as environmental hotspots. Despite differences being modest in percentage terms, the study underscores process-specific impact drivers and provides data-driven recommendations for cleaner production strategies. These findings inform decision-makers on optimizing production design to align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 12 and 13. By delivering nuanced insight into process-level sustainability trade-offs, this study contributes to the emerging discourse on life cycle thinking in the food manufacturing sector.