State diagrams of food materials

Abstract

The physical/chemical states and the thermal transitions of food materials determine the process conditions, functionality, stability and overall quality, including the tex-ture, of the final food products. Carbohydrates and proteins-two major biopolymers in various food products-can exist in an amorphous metastable state that is sensi-tive to moisture and temperature changes (Cocero and Kokini 1991; Madeka and Kokini 1994, 1996). The physical states of components in a biopolymer mixture determine the transport properties, such as viscosity, density, mass and thermal dif-fusivity, together with reactivity of the material. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.