The course of Physical Chemistry Properties and Quality of Food Products is intended to give account of the thermodynamic properties of the amorphous state, which characterizes most food products. The state diagrams and the phase transitions of the main food components are presented. The kinetic stability of complex food products is also presented.
Roos – Phase Transitions in Foods (Academic Press, New York, 1995)
McClements - Food Emulsions: Principles, Practices, and Techniques, (CRC Press, 2004)
Handouts on the topics of the course located on the MOODLE platform.
Learning Objectives
Knowledge of the physical factors (temperature, water content) influencing the quality of foods in the amorphous state. Knowledge of the physical chemical factors (volume fraction, temperature, ionic strength, pH, emulsifiers) influencing the stability of food products.
At the end of the course, the student must develop solid skills in using:
- phase and state diagrams for the description of the main food products
- DLVO relations for the understanding of stabilization and destabilization phenomena of emulsions, dispersions and foams
- rheology for the description of the mechanical and flow properties of food
Prerequisites
No mandatory courses.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and laboratory experiment.
Type of Assessment
Intermediate written tests, final exam (written/oral). Updated exam dates can be found at: https://studenti.unifi.it/ListaAppelliOfferta.do
Course program
Thermodynamics of phase transitions. First- and second-order phase transitions. Crystallization, overheating and oversaturation. Amorphous state. Glass-rubber transitions. Mechanical and viscoelastic parameters of amorphous polymers. Regions of viscoelastic behaviour as a function of temperature.
Water solutions and colligative properties. Freezing-point depression. State diagrams of water solution under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions.
Main components in food. Amorphous and crystalline carbohydrates. Proteins: denaturation and “glassy” transitions.
Food related dispersions and their stabilization.