0000000000073680
AUTHOR
D. Simatos
Glass Transition and Food Technology: A Critical Appraisal
ABSTRACT: Most low water content or frozen food products are partly or fully amorphous. This review will discuss the extent to which it is possible to understand and predict their behavior during processing and storage, on the basis of glass transition temperature values (Tg) and phenomena related to glass transition. Two main conclusions are provisionally proposed. Firstly, glass transition cannot be considered as an absolute threshold for molecular mobility. Transport of water and other small molecules takes place even in the glassy state at a significant rate, resulting in effective exchange of water in multi-domains foods or sensitivity to oxidation of encapsulated materials. Texture pr…
DSC Studies and Stability of Frozen Foods
This paper discusses the role played by the “WLF decrease in viscosity” above the temperature of the glass transition (Tg) in the temperature dependence of the stability of frozen foods. In the first part, the complex features observed before the melting endotherm on DSC/DTA thermograms of sugar-water solutions are examined; they are suggested to be representative of a glass transition associated with enthalpy relaxation. In the second part, the values of Tg for some complex foods are discussed. It is shown that ice melting adds an important contribution to the WLF effect on the decrease of the viscosity of the freeze-concentrated phase. The temperature dependence of the deterioration proce…
Reaction Rate Modeling in Cryoconcentrated Solutions: Alkaline Phosphatase Catalyzed DNPP Hydrolysis
The hydrolysis of disodium p-nitrophenyl phosphate catalyzed by alkaline phosphatase was chosen as a model to study the kinetics of changes in frozen food products. The initial reaction rate was determined in concentrated sucrose solutions down to -24 degrees C, and the enzymatic characteristics K(M) and V(max) were calculated. The experimental data were compared to the kinetics predicted by assuming that the reaction was viscosity dependent. Indeed, an analysis of the enzymatic reaction demonstrated that both the diffusion of the substrate and the flexibility of the enzyme segments were controlled by the high viscosity of the media. When the temperature was too low for the viscosity to be …
Ascorbic Acid Oxidation in Sucrose Aqueous Model Systems at Subzero Temperatures
The reduction of Tempol by ascorbic acid in concentrated sucrose solutions was measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) at temperatures ranging from 16 to −16 °C. This method allowed the determination of the rate constants (k) of this fast reaction, by recording the Tempol reduction as a function of time. The two reactants were initially separated and had to migrate for the reaction to occur. The experimental findings were compared with predicted values according to the equation for diffusion-controlled reaction proposed by Atkins. The experimental reaction rate constants were observed to be lower than the calculated ones. However, the experimental values were found to be controlle…
Water in Dairy Products | Analysis and Measurement of Water Activity
Water activity of a system (aw) is a thermodynamic concept used to characterize the contained water. It has been considered, in spite of some limitations, as the most important parameter in food technology for the past 50 years. It can be measured by the ratio (p/p0) of the water vapor pressure in the atmosphere at equilibrium with the material to the saturated vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature, or by the physical properties related to it (freezing point depression, mechanical/electrical properties). Although the physical/chemical mechanisms responsible for the depression of aw as compared to that of pure water are more or less identified, the expressions describing the r…
Contribution of Protein Flexibility to the Foaming Properties of Casein
The effect of biopolymer flexibility on the foaming properties of casein was investigated. Flexibility was altered by: (1) chemical modification (covalent binding of a monosaccharide on the lysyl residues) or (2) pH change. Electron Spin Resonance was used to measure the reorientational frequency of casein residues labeled with nitroxide radicals. High levels of glycosylation induced increased protein flexibility and improved the foaming capacity. Good agreement was observed between higher values of flexibility and improved surface properties near the isoelectric point.