ABSTRACT
Some of the properties exhibited by foods and food components that will be studied in this laboratory include water activity, viscosity, specific gravity, and refractive index.
Water Activity
The water activity (aw) of a food or food ingredient is often more directly related to quality in terms of (1) shelf life stability as affected by chemical, enzymatic, and microbiological changes and (2) compatibility with other foods, formulation, and packaging requirements than is the moisture content of the food itself. The aw directly or indirectly affects or is related to texture, appearance, aroma, taste, freeze-thaw stability, and the microbiological, chemical, and many other objective and subjective characteristics of food.
