STK3843 FOOD CHEMISTRY

Lecture 1:
Introduction to Food Chemistry
OUTLINES
At the end of this learning unit, student should be
able to:
 Define food

 Explain chemistry of water

-Fundamental properties/structure of ice and

water
-Availability in foods
 Define water activity

 Explain factors that contribute to food stability

FOOD
 Food: Any substances that can be metabolized
by an organism to give energy and build tissue

1.

Basic
4. food 2.
molecules

3.
CHEMISTRY OF WATER
•Water is predominant constituents in many foods.
•As a medium, water support chemical reactions.

Table 1 Moisture content of some foods

Food Moisture content (weight-%)

Meat 65-75
Milk 87
Fruits, vegetables 70-90
Bread 35
Honey 20
Cereal flour 12-14
Coffee beans 5
WATER CHEMISTRY

Removal of water from food

Why? How?
WATER MOLECULES
 Smallest and simplest of all food molecules: H20
 STRUCTURE OF WATER

Negative charge is  ____________ geometry

concentrated  Highly electronegative
___ pulls electrons from
___, making ___ behave
like a bare proton (lack of
covalent bond
electron density)
 Therefore the _____ has
a greater negative charge
due to the greater
electron density
 Forms a dipole (region of
+ve & -ve charge)
because of the
electronegative ______
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 WATER MOLECULES

electrostatic attraction
between the ð+
hydrogen and the ð-
oxygen in adjacent
molecules

This strong bonding is caused by:

1. 2.

How many ______________ bonds can water molecules form?

ICE

 Forms when exactly 4 H-bonds

are formed between water
molecules
 To get this order a lot of energy
needs to be _________ by the
environment

 The strong H-bonding in ice

forms an orderly ________
crystal lattice
 6 H2O molecules

 At same temperature, ice has

______ more thermal
conductivity than water

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 WHY DOES ICE FLOAT?

 Ice floats because it is less dense than water.

 Water has a density of 1.0 gm/cubic cm.

 The density of ice is 0.931 gm/cubic cm.

 But, why is ice less dense than water if both are

made up of molecules of H2O?
 WATER ICE

• In liquid water each molecule • In ice each each molecule is

is hydrogen bonded to hydrogen bonded to 4 other
approximately ____other molecules.
water molecules.
• Because of ordered structure
• Motion of molecules in liquid in ice there are ______
forceful enough to overcome water molecules in a given
strength of hydrogen bond. space of volume.

• Hydrogen bonds in water are

fleeting, constantly ______ Can you spot the difference
and ______ between the structure of liquid
water and ice?
 WATER ACTIVITY (AW)
 Definition :

 Water activity is a measure of how efficiently the water present

can take part in a chemical (physical) reaction. If half the water is
so tightly bound to a protein molecule that it could not take part in
a hydrolysis reaction, the overall water activity would be reduced.

aw = P/Po =ERH/100
P=
Po =
ERH =

 Scale is from 0 (no water) to 1 (pure water)

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 WATER ACTIVITY
 Water has different levels of binding and thus activity or
availability in a food sample

 Food companies and regulatory agencies (e.g. FDA) rely on aw as an

indicator of how fast and in what fashion a food product will
deteriorate or become unsafe, and it also helps them set regulatory
levels of aw for different foods

Types of food Aw value

Highly perishable foods
0.6-0.9

< 0.6
 FREE WATER VERSUS BOUND WATER
 Other definition
of water activity :
3.
2.
1.

 A portion of the 1.
total water
content present
in a product is 2.
strongly bound
to specific sites 3.
on the chemicals
that comprise in
the product. 4.

5.
FREE WATER VERSUS BOUND WATER
 Reducing the amount of free--or unbound-
-water – minimizes undesirable chemical
changes that occur during storage.
 The processes used to reduce the amount
of free water in consumer products include
techniques like __________, _________ and
__________.
 Freezing is another common approach for
controlling spoilage. Water in frozen foods
is in the form of ice crystals and therefore
unavailable to microorganisms and for
reactions with food component
SORPTION ISOTHERMS
 Sorption isotherms
A plot of moisture or
water content (mass of
water, g /mass of dry
material) of food vs. aw
 The relationship
between aw–moisture
content for most foods
is a sigmoidal
shaped curved called
the sorption
isotherms.
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Moisture Sorption Isotherm
Moisture content

sigmoidal shaped curved

aw
SORPTION ISOTHERMS
 Sorption isotherm prepared by adsorption
(starting from the dry state) will not necessarily
be the same as an isotherm prepared by
desorption (starting from the wet state). This
phenomenon of different moisture values vs aw by
the two methods is called moisture sorption
hysteresis and is exhibited by many foods.
Hysteresis represents the difference in aw between
the adsorption and desorption isotherms
WATER SORPTION HYSTERESIS

•A hydrated food can be

dehydrated to remove moisture
until the desired aw is reached
(desorption [starting from wet
state]) or completely dehydrated
and then re-hydrated to the
desired aw (absorption [starting
from dry state])).

•A food is more stable against

microbial spoilage when its aw is
adjusted by absorption rather
than by desorption.
 WATER ACTIVITY

Zone/ Description
Type

3
 Moisture Sorption Isotherm

Zone 2
Moisture content (d.w.b.)

Zone 1
Loosely bound water

Tightly bound water Zone 3

Bulk water

aw
WATER ACTIVITY
Table 1 The water activities of various food-stuffs

Foodstuff aw Types of food (Refer slide 15)

Fresh meat 0.98
Cheese 0.97
Dried fruit 0.76
Honey 0.75
Dried pasta 0.5
 WATER ACTIVITY
Table 2 The minimum water activities for the growth of micro-organisms

Micro-organism aw
Normal bacteria 0.91
Normal yeasts 0.88
Normal moulds 0.80
Halophilic bacteria 0.75
Xerophilic moulds 0.65
Osmophilic yeasts 0.60

Salt loving bacteria ( normally Specially adapted to environments

associated with marine environment of low water activity (they do not
& fish) lose water by osmosis to their
surroundings)
•grow only at temperatures about as hot as
the human hand can endure, and usually
not at all at or below body temperature.

•grow well at refrigeration temperatures,

but better at room temperature.

•grow only at refrigeration temperatures.

•grow best at or near human body

temperature, but grow well at room
temperature.
 MINIMUM AW FOR GROWTH OF MICROORGANISMS
Range Microorganisms Foods generally within
of aw inhibited this
by lowest aw in this range
range
Pseudomonas, Highly perishable (fresh)
Escherichia, foods and canned fruits,
Proteus, Shigella, vegetables, meat, fish, and
Klebsiella, milk; cooked sausages and
Bacillus, Clostridium breads, foods containing
perfringens, some up to approximately 40%
yeasts (w/w)
sucrose or 7% NaCl`
0.95 - 0.91 Some cheese (Cheddar,
Swiss, Muenster,
Provolone), some fruit
juice concentrates, foods
containing 55% (w/w)
sucrose or 12% NaCl
 MINIMUM AW FOR GROWTH OF MICROORGANISMS

Range Microorganisms Foods generally within

of aw inhibited this
by lowest aw in this range
range
0.91 - 0.87 Fermented sausage, sponge
cake, dry cheeses, margarine,
foods
containing 65% (w/w)
sucrose (saturated) or 15%
NaCl
Most molds
(mycotoxigenic
penicillia), Staphylococcus
aureus, most
Saccharomyces,
Debaryomyces
MINIMUM AW FOR GROWTH OF MICROORGANISMS
Range Microorganisms inhibited Foods generally within
of aw by lowest aw in this range this
range

Most halophilic bacteria, Jam, marmalade,

mycotoxigenic aspergilli marzipan,
glacé fruits, some
marshmallows
0.75 - 0.65 Xerophilic molds (Aspergillus
chevalieri, A. candidus,
Wallemia sebi),
Saccharomyces bisporus

0.65 - 0.61 Dried fruits containing

15-20% moisture, some
toffees and caramels,
honey
 MINIMUM AW FOR GROWTH OF MICROORGANISMS
Range Microorganisms Foods generally within this
of aw inhibited range
by lowest aw in this
range
0.5 Pasta containing approximately 12%
moisture, spices containing
approximately
10% moisture
0.4 No microbial
proliferation
No microbial Cookies, some crackers, bread crusts,
proliferation etc. containing 3-5% moisture
0.2 Whole milk powder containing 2-3%
moisture, dried vegetables containing
approximately 5% moisture, corn
flakes containing approximately 5%
moisture,
some crackers
 WATER ACTIVITY

 So, knowing the aw of a

food component one
___________________ for
a particular food product
 For example, it is
possible to create a
________________
product if components
are added at the same aw

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 WATER ACTIVITY

 Water sorption of a mixture

 A mixture of two different food components with different aw leads
to _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Example: Lettuce in a sandwich becomes limp
& bread turns soggy
 This is one reason why it is important to know the aw of a food
product or ingredient
 Examples:
 Caramel, marshmallows and mints – all similar % moisture but very
different aw
 Fudge (aw = 0.65-0.75) covered with caramel (aw = 0.4-0.5) – what
happens?
 Granola bar with soft chewy matrix (aw = 0.6) and sugar coat (aw = 0.3)?

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 FOOD STABILITY
A. B. C.

• Foods with aw > 0.9 require refrigeration because of bacteria

spoilage
• Exception: ____________________
• Can control by making intermediate moisture foods (IMF) (aw =0.6-
0.9)
Food with low aw to prevent microbial spoilage at room temp.
Aw = 0.7 - 0.9 (20 -50% water) - achieved by drying or using solutes
(sugar, salt)
Example: ________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Minimal processing however preferred over IMF

Special problems
May need mold inhibitor
Lipid oxidation - may need antioxidant or inert packaging

Important in grains to prevent mold growth & possibly mycotoxin

development
Must be below 0.8
 FOOD STABILITY
B) Chemical stability

 Maillard browning
 The Maillard reaction :

 A reducing sugar is a type of sugar with a ketone or

aldehyde group. This allows the sugar to act as a
___________________.
 Reaction products contribute colors, flavors and odors to
foods (both desirable and undesirable).
 May reduce availability of essential amino acids such as
lysine
 May reduce absorption of zinc.
 Doesn't occur below type II water

 Increases in type II water - water becomes a

______________ while reactants become ____________ .
 Lipid oxidation
 The water activity influences lipid oxidation
rates.
 High aw , Low aw, - lipid oxidation rates are high
compared to the rate at intermediate aw. - due to
instability of hydroperoxides (HP)

 Slightly more addition of water stabilizes the HP and

catalysts

 Above type II water, water promotes the lipid

oxidation rate because it helps to _________________
__________________________ .

Effects of Lipid
Oxidation
 FOOD STABILITY
 Vitamin and pigment stability
 Ascorbic acid very unstable at high aw
 Stability best in dehydrated foods - type II water

C) Enzyme stability

 Enzymes activity require some amount of water (solubilize the substrate,

mobilize the reactants.
 Dried foods

 Not significant in dehydrated foods

 Little enzyme activity below type II water
 Exceptions: in some cases we get activity at ↓aw
 Lipases (work in a lipid environment)

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Shelf-Stability Table
aw values pH Values

< 4.2 4.2-4.6 > 4.6-5.0 > 5.0

< 0.88 SS SS SS SS

0.88-0.90 SS SS SS Not SS

> 0.90-0.92 SS SS Not SS Not SS

> 0.92 SS Not SS Not SS Not SS

SS = Shelf Stable
 FOOD STABILITY
 Importance of aw in foods
 Food stability directly related Vit C loss
to aw
 The effect of aw on process that
can influence food quality is
presented in Figure.
 Influences storage, microbial
growth, chemical & enzymatic
deteriorations, etc.
 3 Benefits of decrease aw :
a)

b)

c)
Food shelf life (storage stability) as a
function of aw
 Non-enzymatic browning is a
chemical process that produces a Foods with a __________ have
brown color in foods without the fewer reactions; therefore, they have a
activity of enzymes longer shelf life
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HUMECTANTS
 Definition:

 These substances are called _______________,

which means that they are able to absorb
ambient water. (high water binding capacities)

 Examples:
WATER ACTIVITY
 Temperature dependency of the sorption isotherm can
be a major problem and often overlooked

Example:

Crackers that experience a

temperature rise during
transportation

At the same moisture content which

would spoil faster?

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CONTROLLING AW IN FOODS

•water removal (e.g., dehydration)

•addition of solutes (humectants)
1. sugars
2. NaCl
3. glycerol, sorbitol
4. propylene glycol