Why Food Materials Science

Peter J. Lillford, Heribert Watzke, and Jose M. Aguilera  

For centuries, mankind has hunted and farmed its food supply. For an equal amount of time, someone has had to convert these raw materials to an edible state, most of which required processing, since apart from fruits and nuts, most biological materials are not easily eaten and digested by Homo sapiens. In the hands of an expert, such as a the Cordon Bleu chef, this processing has been developed into an art form, using the intrinsic properties of the raw materials to create colours, textures and flavours for our delectation and nutrition. Furthermore, the methods and materials have been codified into millions of recipes, which are available to everyone. 

Irreproducibility Even in the hands of the best chefs results are variable, either because the raw materials are not completely specified or the processes are interpretable in terms of energy input and time. In a way, recipes are like patents they tend to conceal secrets rather than reveal details. 

Cost The best materials are not always available. Agricultural products are conditioned by then biological source (genetics) and the action of abiotic sbesses (the envnonment). All of the resultant raw materials should be used, to avoid waste and to maximise conversion efficiency, yet not all of them can be ideal for a given process or product type. 

Scale In our modem society most processing is not done locally by the producer but in large-scale factory conditions. The processes described in most recipes relate to a small scale, and are not directly transferable to large-scale, continuous processing. 

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