Glass transitions and water-food structure interactions.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on “food polymer science” approach and illustrates various recent examples of the way it has been used to define structure–function relationships in food products and processes and to assess and understand the effects of glass transitions and water plasticization on food quality, safety, and stability. The chapter reviews some theoretical principles from the field of synthetic polymer science that have been shown to be applicable to the studies of the glassy state phenomenon in foods and illustrates those applications by means of a broad overview focusing primarily on the most recent experimental studies by a number of groups that have been especially active in this rapidly growing field of research. The results of such studies have demonstrated the major opportunity offered by the food polymer science approach to expand not only the quantitative knowledge but also, of broader practical value in the context of industrial applications, the qualitative understanding of food products and processes with respect to (1) structure–functional property and water relationships and (2) the influences of nonequilibrium glassy and rubbery states on time-dependent mechanical and rheological properties related to quality and storage stability.