Food dispersions Flashcards
food systems can be divided into 2 general categories:
- intact edible tissues: natural biological systems like plant and animal tissues (ie. fruit, veggie, meat)
- food dispersions: complex systems that are usually man-made
what is a dispersion?
system consisting of one or more discontinous phases (dispersed) in a continuous phase
3 general classes of solutions/dispersions?
- true solutions/molecular dispersions
- colloidal dispersions
- suspensions
5 characteristics of true solutions?
- diameter? color? osmotic pressure? passes through what?
- molecules and ions are present in their lowest subdivision (ie simple salt or sugar)
- particles are < 0.1 um in diameter
- transparent (no light scattering)
- high osmotic pressure
- passes through parchment membrane
characteristics of colloidal dispersions
- 2 conditions?
- usually a ___________ or an ___________ of a smaller molecule –> may ___________ to form ___________
- size range?
- osmotic pressure?
- color?
- do NOT pass through parchment membranes
- does NOT settle under force of gravity (stays in solution)
- a macromolecule or an aggregate of a smaller molecule –> may aggregate to form gels
- 0.1-1 um
- significantly reduced osmotic pressure
- may be transparent but is often translucent –> scatters light
characteristics of suspensions
- particle size?
- color?
- suspended material? filtered out? gravity?
- osmotic pressure?
- ex of ungelatinized starch granules vs gelatinized
- > 1um
- generally opaque
- suspended material can be filtered out –> settle out of solution by gravity, given enough time
- no measurable osmotic pressure
what types of solutions do ungelatinized starch granules vs gelatinized sarch form?
- ungelatinized starch granules will form a suspension when stirred but soon settle out
- gelatinized starch forms a colloidal solution or gel depending on concentration
true solution vs colloidal solutions:
- which is uniphasic/biphasic?
- true solution: uniphasic (you don’t see 2 phases)
- colloidal: biphasic
conversion of true molecular solution to a colloidal solution often takes place when ____________ are involved
macromolecules
if overall charge is low –> macromolecules will ____________ –> how?
VS if overall charge accumulating becomes large, macromolecule will ____________
- low charge –> aggregate –> electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding
- large charge –> repulse each other (think about caseins)
wastewater from food processing plants often contains substantial amounts of ____________ material –> a common method of wastewater treatment is to convert these ____________ solutions into ____________ that will settle out by adding what to do what?
- colloidal material
- colloidal solutions into suspensions
- by adding salts to neutralize the charge of the colloids
in food dispersions, formation of colloids is the combined result of (4) what interactions?
- electrostatic interactions
- hydrogen bonding
- hydrophobic interactions
- hydrophobic/hydrophilic associations
4 common food dispersions (ie what in what)?
- liquid in liquid = emulsion
- gas in liquid = foam
- liquid in solid = solid emulsion (butter)
- gas in solid = solid foam (whipping cream)
food dispersions are favorable/unfavorable from a free energy standpoint –> explain?
- unfavorable
- high interfacial tension/surface tension can be reduced by emulsifiers or surfactants via hydrophobic/hydrophilic associations
what is a surfactant?
- have property of what?
- any compound that has both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups in its molecular structure
- reducing surface tension of water significantly, causing foaming, and can form emulsions
emulsifier vs surfactant?
both are the same thing!
- but emulsifier = food products
- surfactants = non-food applications (like soap)
what happens when surfactants are mixed into a solution?
- 2 steps
- surfactants are found near solution surface –> air-water interface = location of lowest free energy state for emulsifiers and surface-active compounds –> hydrophobic ends orient toward hydrophobic air + hydrophilic ends orient themselves into water
- this orientation forms transitional region which reduces free energy differential btw hydrophilic water and hydrophobic air
- reduces surface tension of water! - if concentration of emulsifier/surfactant is increased beyond surface-covering capacity, then micelles are formed in solution –> formed to reduce the free energy of the solution after the air/water interface is saturated
- micelles serve as reservoir of surfactant molecules capable of migrating to new surfaces that are created by mixing
does surface tension increase or decrease when surfactants are added?
- what happens to surface tension when too much surfactant is added?
- decrease!
- too much –> surface tension doesn’t change substantially bc micelles are formed