ABSTRACT
A recent trend to explain the behavior of food materials during processing and storage is based on an interpretation which considers food materials as systems of water plasticized natural polymers (Slade and Levine, 1991; Roos, 1992). This interpretation is believed to provide an enhanced characterization of the food materials with the help of a phase state diagram where curves showing transition temperatures (e.g., glass transition, melting) are plotted against moisture content. These state diagrams are based on experimental data, most of which may be obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
