Food polymer science

The concept and use of food polymer science in describing the behavior of starch during and after thermal treatment has been developed (20,21). In... 

The continued use of aw in foods does not preclude the use of other concepts or measurement methods, such as the food polymer science approach proposed by Slade and Levine (1991) or rotational and translation mobility as measured by NMR. Rather, it may be most useful to combine these various approaches, recognizing the strengths, perspective (i.e., distance and time scales), and limitations of each. Then, each approach can be utilized where it is most applicable so as to build a multilevel understanding of the workings of specific food systems. 

Since its introduction, the food polymer science approach has been used to understand structure-function relationships in foods, the effect of... 

State diagrams are an integral part of the food polymer science approach and are further explored and expanded upon in Section III.D.5. For the interested reader, Javenkoski (2001) developed instructional visualization media (three QuickTime animations) for aqueous phase transitions in food systems and investigated their use for improving the comprehension of phase transitions by students enrolled in an introductory food science and human nutrition course. 

The introduction of Slade and Levine s food polymer science approach has mobilized (no pun intended ) a large number of researchers to pursue the question of how the glass transition concept applies to the processing and... 

As discussed earlier, the usefulness of the food polymer science approach to the study of water dynamics in foods has been widely demonstrated by numerous researchers studying both model and real food systems. Along with the success of the approach, there still exist a number of areas of concern that need to be mentioned. 

The food polymer science approach is being applied successfully in the food industry for understanding, improving, and developing food processes and products. However, to date, the glass transition generally remains more of a research and development tool than a routine quality assurance measure of food processability and stability. 

Slade, L. and Levine, H. 2003. Food polymer science approach to studies on freshness and shelf life. In Freshness and Shelf Life of Foods (K.R. Cadwallader and H. Weenen, eds), pp. 214—222. ACS Symposium Series 836, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. 

Slade, L., and H. Levine. 1991. A food polymer science approach to structure-property relationships in aqueous food systems. In Water relationships in foods, ed. H. Levine and L. Slade. New York Plenum Press. 

Levine, H. and Slade, L. A food polymer science approach to the practice of cryostabilization technology. Comments Agric. Food Chem., 1, 315, 1989. 

Nelson, K.A. and Labuza, T.P. Water activity and food polymer science implications of state on Arrhenius and WLF models in predicting shelf-life, /. Food Eng., 22, 271,1994. 

Slade, L., Levine, H., Levolella, J., and Wang, M. The glassy state phenomenon in applications for the food industry application of the food polymer science approach to structure-function relationships of sucrose in cookie and cracker systems, /. Sci. Food Agric., 63, 133,1993. 

In previous reports and reviews (1-7.14-29 and refs, therein), we have described how the recognition of these key elements of the food polymer science approach and their relevance to the behavior of a broad range of different types of foods (e.g. intermediate-moisture foods (IMFs), low-moisture foods, frozen foods, starch-based foods. 

In this article, we illustrate the theory and practice of food polymer science by highlighting the development and technological applications of a polymer characterization method, based on low temperature DSC, to analyze the structure-physicochemical property relationships of linear, branched, and cyclic mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides. These studies have demonstrated the major opportunity offered by this food polymer science approach to expand not only our quantitative knowledge but also, of broader practical value, our qualitative understanding of the structure-function relationships of such carbohydrates in a wide variety of food products and processes. 

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