ABSTRACT
CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................... 88 Nature of the Interactions ................................................................ 89
Aqueous Solutions Are “Associated Liquids” ...................... 89 Water Is Not Irreversibly “Bound” ........................................ 91 Water Activity .......................................................................... 93
Functional Properties of Water ........................................................ 94 Dispersion and Solubilization ................................................ 94 Structuring Agent .................................................................... 96 Mobility .................................................................................... 99
Diffusion ............................................................................. 99 Glass Transition ................................................................ 102
Effects on Food Quality .................................................................. 112 Water Retention ..................................................................... 112 Texture of Cereal-Based Foods ............................................. 112 Stability of Low-or Intermediate-Moisture Foods ............. 116 State and Stability of Frozen-Food Products ...................... 122
State Diagrams and Water-Solute Interactions .............. 123 Stability of Frozen-Food Products .................................. 125
References ........................................................................................ 132
Making better use of the functionality of water in food processing and storage has been for a long time, and is still, one of the main concerns of the food industry. Numerous scientific books, articles, and symposia have been devoted to a better understanding of the role of water in foods. However, the properties of water are still not completely understood. Aqueous systems are also very complex; indeed, the behavior of apparently simple systems, such as sugar solutions, is not yet fully explained. Thus, it may appear utopian to try to understand and control the state and functionality of water in complex systems such as foods. In fact, the main objective of many studies in this field is more to determine which property, related to the presence of water, would be the most appropriate to predict the behavior of a product during processing or storage.
