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Exercise No.

1 WATER AND ICE

Group 3: Hernandez, Anna Margarita S. Sumague, Moraine M. Villanueva, Novilyn M.

Section: AB-2L

Ms. Ara Fatima C. Algar

29 June 2011

Water is a very important food constituent. It has properties that can greatly affect the food in terms of quality and stability. Waters unusual properties are due to its bent-shaped molecular structure, which is formed from a partially negative O atom and two partially positive H atoms. Water has three phases which are liquid, solid and gas
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Experiment 1 Table 1.1. Data on Moisture Determination Using Ohaus IR Moisture Meter. Sample Noodles Biscuits Raisins Pechay Final Reading,g 0.8 0.9 0.7 -0.1 Initial Reading,g 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 %MC 20% 10% 30% 110%

The amount of water in food is measured as moisture content (%MC) of the food. Some of the methods in determining the moisture content of food are the Ohaus IR Moisture Meter and the OvenDrying Method. Ohaus IR Moisture Meter is a method wherein the moisture is removed by evaporation using an infrared source and the weight loss is considered as the moisture of the food while in the Oven-Drying Method, moisture content is determined as weight loss after evaporating the moisture from the sample by the application of heat in an oven. Moisture content can be calculated by using these formulas
[1]

%MC = 100 x

%MC = (Final Reading Initial Reading) x Factor; where Factor = 10/weight of sample, g

% MC =

x 100

Based on Table 1.1, the weight loss using the Ohaus IR Moisture Meter has its corresponding moisture content. Pechay, a vegetable, has the highest moisture content, followed by raisins, then noodles and lastly biscuits. Dried foods have moisture content ranging from 5-15%, thus, biscuits fall under this category. Intermediate moisture foods have moisture content ranging from 20-40%. These kinds of foods are preserved by lowering the moisture content by drying or adding solutes. Noodles and raisins belong to this group. Vegetables have greater than 50% moisture content, and obviously, pechay which is a vegetable obtained the highest moisture content
[3]

. But as seen in the table, it has

110% MC. It is not possible to have moisture content higher than 100%. The error might have

occurred when the sample was being weighed. When being weighed the temperature of the pan might have been warm making the final weight lighter than its original weight. Higher temperature causes a decrease in weight. Experiment 2 Water activity is a property of aqueous solution. It can be measured by three methods. First by defining it as the ratio of the vapor pressures of water and a solution:

where

; ; and vapor pressure of water

This ratio can also give us the Relative humidity (RH) of the sample by using this formula, . But, this formula can only be applied if the sample is in equilibrium with the environment. The RH that can be obtained from this formula is also known as equilibrium relative humidity (ERH)
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According to Raoult's law, the lowering of the vapor pressure of a solution is proportional to the mole fraction of the solute: aw can then be related to the molar concentrations of solute (n1) and solvent (n2):

It is the second way of measuring water activity. In the experiment, water activity of different samples is to be determined. But the data obtained upon doing the experiment was the ERH of the sample. The water activity of the samples can be computed by rearranging the formula of RH above,

It is the third way of measuring water activity. The samples used were similar to that of experiment 1. Table 1.2 shows the data gathered in the experiment.

Table 1.2 Water activity of different food samples. Sample Biscuit Raisin Noodles(uncooked) Pechay Equilibrium relative humidity 15.4 44.5 60.7 93.6 Water activity 0.154 0.445 0.607 0.936

As can be seen in Table 1.2, biscuit have the lowest water activity and pechay have the highest. Water activity is directly proportional to the moisture content of the food according to DeMan (1999). There are different methods of controlling water activity. One is the addition of solutes and another is drying. In addition o f solutes, an appreciable amount of solute particles are added to the solution to increase the ratio of solute particles from the ratio of the solvent. In drying, available water is evaporated from the solution thus leaving the amount of solute particles higher than that of the solvent or sometimes leaving no solvent or water behind. These methods use the principle that water activity is reduced by increasing the concentration of the solution. Also freezing can be used to control water activity due to lessening the available water in the system. Freezing changes the phase of water from liquid to solid thus allowing a honeycomb structure which is bound to each other
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Experiment 3 Because water activity is a great concern in food it also thus effect the quality of food. As the water activity increase, food stability decreases. This is due to the fact that as water activity is closest to 1, the relative humidity increases closest to 100 which gives the a more possibility of ERH. Food that has a characteristic which is closest to the normal conditions (ERH) with the atmosphere increases the vulnerability of the food thus decreasing its quality
[2]

In the experiment, this concept was tested and the results are as follows: Table 1.3 Texture and appearance of foods stored under different relative humidities. Appearance Texture Final Wt. (sample + crucible) 100% RH (0% H2SO4) 70% RH (33% H2SO4) 50% RH (43% H2SO4) Green, moist Brownish/ partially dry yellow green, dry pale green, Fresh, saggy Rough, saggy (at the bottom of crucible) Crisp, rough 27.1 g 26.2 g 26.8 g

Packaging is a unit operation that offers a contained product protection from the environment plus convenience for retailers as well as consumers. This also serves as primary protection against contamination by microbes, and protection from oxygen, moisture, unwanted flavor and odor transfer also pests access
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Packaging is a great concern in connection to water activity. Food materials tend to have a longer shelf-life because its moisture content does not leave the food abruptly also moisture from the atmosphere does not enter the food then contact from the atmosphere is lessened. The goal is to allow an exchange of gases and moisture that produces the optimal storage environment so that freshlike attributes are maintained. specific time interval. In account for packing in plastic bag and storing temperature for example in pechay, there will be a difference in the appearance of the vegetable after 4 days in those storing conditions. Pechay which is placed in a plastic bag under room temperature will wilt faster because there is no exchange of gases and moisture from pechay and the atmosphere(outside the plastic bag) thus leaving it in a lower relative humidity
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This phenomenon is only applicable at certain temperature in

. Lower relative humidity inside the plastic bag causes a faster tendency to

convert water content of pechay to vapor. This trend was also seen in Table 1.3. There will be a water loss in pechay, causing a lower water activity in the food relative humidities tend to sag first.
[2]

. As seen in Table 1.3, food at lower

This happens to be able to equilibrate the relative humidity

condition s which is the principle behind equilibrium relative humidity. In the case of storing under the conditions of a lower temperature scale like vegetable crisper, pechay will be able to maintain its physical attributes with low deterioration due to the crispers ability to prevent water loss in pechay because its relative humidity is high. Experiment 4 As discussed in Experiment 2, one example of controlling water activity in foods which are widely used in food processing and food preservation is freezing. Freezing is converting water in liquid phase to water in solid phase which is ice. This behavior of water turning to ice will only be possible when the temperature is at the foods freezing point or above it. There are two kinds of freezing. The first is quick or rapid freezing. Quick freezing is a process by which the temperature of foods is lower to about (-20C) within 30 minutes. This treatment may be achieved by direct immersion or indirect contact of foods with the refrigerant and the use of air blast of frigid air blown across the foods being frozen. The second is slow freezing. It is the process by which the desired temperature is achieved within 3-72 hours. This is essentially the type of freezing utilized in the home freezer
[3]

. According to Jay (1978), the following are the difference between quick

and slow freezing as shown in Table 1.4.

Table 1.4 The differences between quick and slow freezing. Quick freezing Small ice crystals formed Blocks or suppresses metabolism Brief exposure to concentration of adverse constituents No adaptation to low temperatures Thermal shock( too brutal a transition) No protective effect Avoid internal metabolic imbalance Gradual adaptation No shock effect Accumulation of concentrated solutes with beneficial effects Slow freezing Large ice crystals formed Breakdown of metabolic rapport Longer exposure to adverse or injurious factors

In the experiment, some foods were tested to be able to see the effect of freezing of water. Table 1.5 Effect of selected additives on the freezing of water. Sample Distilled water Tap water Appearance and texture before freezing Clear colorless liquid Clear colorless liquid Appearance and texture after freezing Clear colorless liquid Clear colorless liquid and formation of solid clear crystal at the surface Mango juice 35% sucrose Milk Milk and gelatin Milk and egg yolk Yellow liquid with solid particles (smooth) Clear solution with sugar Viscous clear liquid with sugar at the bottom Cream in color, viscous liquid smooth Smooth, cream colored liquid Dark creamy yellow Solid cream in color Viscous liquid, darker yellow at the upper portion and sugar at the bottom particles at the bottom Smooth, cream colored liquid Smooth solid yellow

As shown in Table 1.5, tap water, mango juice and milk with gelatin are the only samples with visible result in freezing. According to deMan, presence of carbohydrates greatly affects the freezing of solutions. Monosaccharides are those sugars that are able to decrease the freezing point of solutions and in higher concentrations will allow a smooth texture of the solid solution. For example, mango

juice containing a monosaccharide, fructose, with a high concentration freezes in a smooth consistency. Milk and gelatin solution also freezes quickly because of the presence of gelatin which acted as a binder or stabilizer that combined the molecules in the solution. The solution became smooth because of the presence of sugar in milk and also the equal distribution of constituents in the solution. During the freezing of food, water is transformed to ice with a high degree of purity, and solute concentration in the unfrozen liquid is gradually increased. This is accompanied by changes in pH, ionic strength, viscosity, osmotic pressure, vapor pressure, and other properties
[2]

. In the results

of the experiment, most of the solution became viscous after the freezing time which should be able to transcend to a solid state which is smooth in texture. Theoretically all samples should have been in the frozen state. This is explained by water activity of foods as concern to the increasing number of solutes at freezing. The only difference in the solutions should have been the texture of the solid solutions. Tap water and distilled water should have a crystal-like structure with tinges of white also abrasive texture after freezing. 35% sucrose should also be solid with rough texture at the upper surface of the solution and smooth texture at the bottom because of the unequal distribution of sucrose of table sugar which only stayed at the bottom of the test tube. Milk solutions (milk only, with gelatin and with egg yolk) should all be solid with a smooth texture. The smoothness of the texture might just vary like in milk with egg yolk. This would have a smoother texture than the others because of the presence of egg yolk which acts as a stabilizer also a binder
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. In these solutions, sugar also settled at the bottom of the test tube. This would be

explained by the higher density of sugar compared to that of the solutions. These results may be due to the following factors. First, not enough low temperature in the freezer. Second, the experiment should be taken note after 24 hours but instead it was less. In freezing of foods there is a great effect on the quality of foods. Crystal growth is one of the factors that limit the freezer life of certain foods. Foods that are subjected to freezing tend to disrupt cell tissues because of the expansion of water inside the cell. Then upon thawing the product will go back to its original texture and flavor. Upon thawing, foods frozen by the slow freezing method tend to loss more drip than quick frozen foods held in comparable periods of time. Freezing of foods generally causes formation of crystals but this characteristic is not acceptable for the ice cream industry
[3]

. This is due to the fact that ice creams with crystals are those

with low quality so in order to prevent crystallization in ice cream, agitation of the mixture is normally done apart from the addition of stabilizers and binders in order to achieve a high quality ice cream having a smooth consistency and texture also with flavor that is proportional throughout.

CONCLUSION Water is essential to all living things. It has a lot of functions in different fields in life. Also it has a lot of properties where one of which is water activity. Water activity is generally a property of aqueous solutions. It can be measured by the relative humidity, number of moles of solute and solvent and by the vapor pressure of water and the solution. Food also has a property which is related to water activity which is the moisture content. Moisture content (MC) is the amount of water contained in a specific food. It can be measured by Moisture meter (Ohaus or Kett) and by oven drying. Foods are primarily subdivided into three classes in terms of the moisture content. First are the dry food ranging from 5-15% MC then intermediate moisture foods (20-40%MC) and lastly high moisture foods (50% and above). Moisture content and water activity are directly proportional. Another food property is food stability. Food stability is the ability of food to stay fresh or to retain good quality. Food stability is inversely proportional to water activity. In order for foods to be able to lengthen food stability, packaging is normally attributed. This is to control storage conditions of the food. When food is subjected to packaging, the goal is to lessen water activity. Relative humidity is amount of vapor pressure present in the atmosphere. And when water activity is equal to the relative humidity then equilibrium relative humidity is achieved. This principle is the main concept for the format of storage conditions. One storage conditions formulated to achieve longer stability of foods is freezing. Freezing is primarily the conversion of liquid to solid without altering chemical equations. This has two kinds. First quick or rapid freezing which is freezing for only about 30 minutes and produces small ice crystals. The second one is the slow cooling which transcends from 3-72 hours of cooling and produces large crystals. Freezing though very effective on storage of food also causes some negative attributions such as cell damage due to expansion of water molecules inside the cell. Furthermore when the frozen food is to be thawed, original food quality cannot be achieved any longer. Generally aqueous solutions are solidified upon freezing but there vary on the texture of the solid solution. In application of this concept, freezing of ice cream is done with agitation to be able to achieve smooth texture to avoid crystallization

LITERATURE CITED
[1]

DEL ROSARIO, Ricardo R., DEL ROSARIO, Olivia M. and DIA, Vermont P. 2003. Food Chemistry: Laboratory Manual. Philippines: CA Publications Office.

[2]

DEMAN, John M. 1999. Principles of food chemistry.3rd ed. Maryland: Aspen Publishers, Inc. JAY, James M. 1978. Modern Food Microbiology.2nd ed. New York: D Van Nostrand Company.

[3]

[4]

LEITCH, James Muil and RHODES, Douglas N. 1962. Recent Advances in Food Science 3: Biochemistry and Biophysics in Food Research. Great Britain: Pitman press, Bath.

[5]

MURANO, Peter S. 2003. Understanding Food Science and Technology. USA: Wadswort/ Thomson Learning, Inc.

[6]

WALSTRA, Pieter. 2003. Physical Chemistry of Foods. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

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