Water sorption by proteins: Milk and whey proteins

John E. Kinsella, Patrick F. Fox & Louis B. Rockland

Journal: C R C Critical Reviews in Food Science and NutritionVolume 24, Issue 2, January
1986, pages 91-139
Available online: 29 Sep 2009
The content and physical state of water in foods influence their physical, chemical, quality, safety,
and functional behavior. Information concerning the sorption behavior of dairy proteins, in the
water activity (A
W
) range 0 to 0.9, is collated in this paper. The sorption behavior of proteins in
general, the kinetics of absorption, factors affecting water binding, the phenomenon of desorption
hysteresis, and the chemical and physical nature of water/protein interactions are reviewed in
general terms. This is followed by a discussion of the thermodynamic aspects of sorption
phenomena and the adequacy of the various equations for describing sorption isotherms of
proteins. After a discussion of the methods available for measuring sorption by milk proteins, the
sorption behavior of various milk protein preparations, i.e., nonfat dry milk, whey proteins,
caseins, and milk powders is summarized. Finally, the water activity of cheese and its relationship
to solute mobility and solvent water are discussed. Some of the unique features of protein
behavior, i.e., conformational changes, swelling, and solubilization are cited as possible sources of
disparities between various reports.
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Estimation of crystalline phase present in the glucose crystalsolution mixture by
water activity measurement
LWT - Food Science and Technology, Volume 36, Issue 7, November 2003, Pages 729-
733
Bhesh Bhandari, Isabelle Bareyre
Abstract
The amount of crystalline fraction present in monohydrate glucose crystalsolution mixture up to 110% crystal
in relation to solution (crystal:solution=110:100) was determined by water activity measurement. It was found
that the water activity had a strong linear correlation (R
2
=0.994) with the amount of glucose present above
saturation. Difference in the water activities of the crystalsolution mixture (aw1) and the supersaturated
solution (aw2) by re-dissolving the crystalline fraction allowed calculation of the amount of crystalline phase
present (G) in the mixture by an equation G=846.97(aw1aw2). Other methods such as Raoult's, Norrish and
MoneyBorn equations were also tested for the prediction of water activity of supersaturated glucose solution.

A novel approach for color degradation kinetics of paprika as a function of water
activity Original Research Article
LWT - Food Science and Technology, Volume 41, Issue 9, November 2008, Pages 1672-
1677
Ayhan Topuz

Abstract
The influence of temperature and water activity on color degradation in paprika powders was investigated. The
Hunter color parameters (L, a, b), hue angle (h), and total color difference (TCD) were used to estimate the
color changes of paprika during thermal treatment at different temperatures (60, 80 and 99 C) and water
activities (0.459, 0.582 and 0.703). The changes in L, a, b and TCD values were significantly influenced by the
processing time, temperature and water activity. The color changes during processing and storage were
described by a first order kinetic model. The temperature dependence of the degradation followed the
Arrhenius relation. Samples with a high water activity exhibited a high rate constant of the color degradation.
The effect of water activity on activation energy was not significant. A linear relationship between the water
activity and rate constant of the color parameters was found. By incorporating the linear relationship krefaw into
the Arrhenius equation, a modified Arrhenius equation was proposed which was used to predict paprika color
changes as influenced by temperature and water activity
Modeling the influence of water activity and ascospore age on the growth of
Neosartorya fischeri in pineapple juice Original Research Article
LWT - Food Science and Technology, Volume 44, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 239-243
Morgana Zimmermann, Suzane Miorelli, Pilar Rodriguez Massaguer, Glaucia Maria Falco
Arago
Abstract
The ascospores of resistant fungi, Neosartorya fischeri, can survive commercial pasteurization, diminishing the
shelf life of these products. The time that the ascospores remain in the environment and the effect that they
can cause on mold growth are still unknown. This study is aimed to evaluate the influence of water activity (aw)
from 0.90 to 0.99 and the ascospore age (I) from 30 to 90 days of vitro incubation on the growth of N. fischeri
in pineapple juice by mathematical modeling. The growth parameters on pineapple juice: adaptation phase (),
maximum specific growth rate (max) and maximum diameter reached by the colony (A) were obtained by fitting
Modified Gompertz and Logistic models to the experimental data. Both models were able to describe microbial
growth in pineapple juice, but the Modified Gompertz model presented a slightly superior performance based
on statistical indices (correlation coefficients (R
2
), mean square error (MSE), Bias Factor and Accuracy Factor).
The minimum values of and A, calculated by the Modified Gompertz model, were 64.7 h and 6.3 mm, while
the maximum values were 178.2 h and 20.8 mm, respectively. The result showed that ascospore age did not
influence the growth but aw was statistically significant to the growth parameters and A.

1. Compression characteristics of agglomerated food powders: Effect of agglomerate size
and water activity Caractersticas de la compresin de alimentos en polvo: Efecto del
tamao del aglomerado y del contenido de humedad
o H. Yan and
o G.V. Barbosa-Cnovas
Food Science and Technology International, October 1997; vol. 3, 5: pp. 351-359.
Abstract
The stability of food agglomerates is very important for keeping optimal instant properties as
well as flow characteristics. Compression tests have been proven not only to be useful tools in
char acterizing attrition, but also excellent descriptors for powder flowability. The purpose of
this work was to study the effects of particle size and water activity (a w) on the compression
characteristics of selected agglomerated food powders, and then to identify suitable
mathematical models by using a non-linear regression program for predicting the compression
characteristics of food agglomerates when partial attrition takes place. Three agglomerated
food powders - non-fat milk, low fat milk and instant coffee - were classified by size into five
or six fractions with a set of RX-29 sieve screens. Each fraction was conditioned at three aw
levels, placed in a cylindrical compression cell, and compressed with a piston attached to the
crosshead of a TA-XT2 texture analyser. The crosshead speed was 1 mm/s in all tests and the
maximum force applied was 245 N. Particle size was found to play a significant role in
compression tests in that the greater the particle size, the greater the volume reduction. It was
easier to compress the low aw samples, but in all tests changing aw did not significantly affect
compression characteristics. Sone's two- parameter model accurately described the
combination of compaction and attrition when compression pressure did not exceed a certain
level, while Peleg's double-exponential model with four parameters best fitted the compression
data.
1. Changes on image texture features of breakfast flakes cereals during water absorption
o Wenceslao T Medina,
o Roberto A Quevedo,
o and Jos M Aguilera
Food Science and Technology International, February 2013; vol. 19, 1: pp. 45-57.

Abstract
Normally breakfast cereal flakes are consumed by pouring them into a bowl and covering them
with fresh or cold milk. During this process the liquid uptake causes changes in the surface
and internal matrix of breakfast cereals that influence texture and integrity. Some breakfast
cereal as flakes have a translucent structure that could provide information about the solid
matrix and air cells and how they change during liquid absorption. The objective of the study
was to assess the image texture changes of corn flakes and frosted flakes during water
absorption at 5, 15 and 25C, employing 11 image feature textures extracted from grey-level
co-occurrence matrix and grey-level run length matrix (at three directions) and to relate the
fractal dimension (FD) of images with rupture force (RF) reduction during soaking of both
flakes at 5C. The most relevant result from principal component analysis calculated with a
matrix of 54 (soaking times)22 (texture features), shows that it was possible to distinguish
an isolated group consisting of different soaking times at the same water temperature in each
breakfast cereal flakes evaluated, corroborating that superficial liquid imbibition is important
during the liquid absorption process when flakes are soaked. Furthermore, standardized FD
could be related to RF in the period when samples tend to search for an equilibrium state.