ABSTRACT
Solubility is a fundamental property of a compound and is useful in the investigation of many thermodynamic properties. A food chemist is faced with determining the solubility of chemicals in order to separate, identify, and purify food preparations. This chapter considers the different practical methods of the solubility measurements of solids, liquids, and gases. In all cases, the determination of solubility is affected most by three factors: purity of the components, temperature, and equilibration. A system has reached equilibrium when the solubility determinations at several different time intervals are within the experimental error. The time interval chosen should be sufficiently long to avoid misleading interpretations of variations in solubility measurements due to a slowly equilibrating system. The solubility of proteins is greatly affected by factors that affect these noncovalent forces. It is important to consider the effects of several compounds on solubility of proteins using thermodynamic principles.
