COURSE

INSTRUCTOR:
Course: Food
FOMBANGBiochemistry
MODECAI
 COURSE OUTLINE
1 Water in food
• Functional properties of water in food;
• Expression of the amount of water in food;
• Water activity and food preservation.
2. Hydrocarbons: Carbohydrates, oses and
osides
• Monosaccharides: Monosaccharides;
• Osides: Saccharides;
• Chemical reactions of carbohydrates;
• Use of carbohydrates
 COURSE OUTLINE
3 Lipids: Fatty acids, simple and complex lipids
• Classification of lipids;
• Fatty acids (Saturated fatty acids, Unsaturated fatty
acids, Concept of fatty acids
• omega (w), Essential fatty acids and indispensable
fatty acids);
• Simple lipids;
• Complex lipids;
• Polyisoprenic lipids;
• Chemical reactions of lipids;
• Uses of lipids.
 COURSE OUTLINE
4. Proteins, peptides and amino acids
• Amino acids ;
• Peptides;
• Proteins (Protein Classification, Protein Structure,
Denaturation of
• the structure of proteins);
• Examples of proteins found in food;
• Protein degradation:
- Chemical degradation of proteins;
- Enzymatic degradation of proteins.
• Nutritional quality of proteins;
• Functional Properties of Dietary Proteins.
 COURSE OUTLINE
5. Chemical Spoilage Reactions of Foods
• Enzymatic browning;
• Maillard reaction;
• Caramelization reaction;
• Lipid oxidation;
• Lipolysis;
• Hydrolysis of carbohydrates.
 WHAT IS FOOD BIOCHEMISTRY?

• Food biochemistry is the study of

chemical processes within and
relating to living organisms.
• Food Biochemistry also known as
biological chemistry is the
understanding of composition of
foods, especially food components
that have beneficial effects on human
health.
Why Study the Biochemistry of
Nutrition?

• Studying the biochemistry of nutrition can uncover vital

information about the role diet plays in the establishment,

development, and prognosis of physical diseases such as

cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke - illnesses

that have all been linked in some way to diet and

nutrition.
 WATER IN FOODS

• Water is the most critical of all nutrients and major component of

all living organism
• It constitutes 60% or more of the weight of most living things
• Essential constituent of all cell structures and provide the medium
in which all the chemical reactions of a cellular metabolism take
place.
• Water is the universal solvent and dispersing agent, as well as a very
reactive chemical compound.
• Biologically active structures of macromolecules are spontaneously
formed only to aqueous media
 WATER IN FOODS
• It is an active partner of molecular interactions, participating
directly
in many biochemical reactions (as a substrate or a product)
• high heat capacity allows water to act as a heat buffer in all
organisms.
• Regulation of water contents is important in the maintenance of
homeostasis in all living systems.
• Stability and shelf life are significant features of foods that are,
influenced by the water content.
• The physical properties, quantity, and quality of water within food
have a strong impact on food effectiveness, quality attributes, shelf
life, textural properties and processing.
Structure and Properties of
water

•Chemical composition, HOH, or H2O, is universally

known, the simplicity of its formula belies the complexity
of its behavior.
• Although a water molecule is electrically neutral as a
whole, it has a dipolar
character.
• The high polarity of water is caused by the direction of
the H-O-H bond angle, which is 104.5o, and by an
asymmetrical distribution of electrons within the molecule.
 • In a single water molecule, each hydrogen atom
shares an electron pair with the oxygen atom
• Sharing of electrons between H and O is unequal
because the more electronegative oxygen atom tends
to draw electrons away from the hydrogen nuclei.
• The result of this unequal electron sharing is the
existence of two electric dipoles in the molecule, one
along each of the H-O bonds.
• The oxygen atom bears a partial negative charge and
each hydrogen atom a partial positive charge. (Because
the molecule is not linear, H-O-H has a dipole moment)
• Water molecules can interact through electrostatic
attraction between the oxygen atom of one water
molecule and the hydrogen of another.
 Hydrogen bond in water

• Electrons on one molecule can be partially shared

with the hydrogen on another, are known as hydrogen
bonds.
• The H2O molecule, which contains two hydrogen
atoms and one oxygen atom in a non-linear
arrangement, is ideally suited to engage in hydrogen
bonding.
• An individual, isolated hydrogen bond is very labile.
• It is longer and weaker than a covalent O-H bond
•The hydrogen bond’s energy, that is, the energy
required to break the bond, is about 20kJ/mol.
• These bonds are intermediate between those of
weak Van der Waals
interactions (about 1.2 kJ/mol) and those of covalent
bonds (460kJ/mol).
• Hydrogen bonds are highly directional; they are
stronger when the hydrogen
atom and the two atoms that share it are in a straight
line.
• They are formed between water and different
chemical structures, as well as
between other molecules (Intermolecular) or even
within a molecule
(Intramolecular)
 Water in foods

• Most natural foods contain water

up to 70% of their weight.
• Water in foods is classified in to
two types:
(a) bound water and (b) free water
• Water that can be extracted easily
from foods by squeezing or pressing
or
 Bound Water

• Water that is held so tightly by another molecule (such as a protein)

• Not easily removed from the food is called bound water.
• This water is not free to act as solvent for salts and sugars.
• It can be frozen only at very low temperatures.
• density is greater than water.
• The water molecules are bound to polar groups or ions on molecules
such as
starches, pectin, and proteins.
• The bound water is of three types
i. Constitutional
ii. Vicinal
iii. Multilayer
 Bound Water Types

• Constitutional: They form an integral part of a non aqueous

constituent
forming <0.03%.
-It is constituted by a monolayer of water molecules absorbed on
the polar
absorption site of the molecule is almost immobilized and thus
behaves, like part
of the solid or like water in ice.
• Vicinal: It is the bound water that strongly acts with specific
hydrophilic sites
of non-aqueous constituents to form a monolayer coverage; water-
ion and waterdipole bonds forming 0.1 to 0.9%.
• Multilayer: Bound water that forms several additional layers
around
hydrophilic groups, water-water and water-solute hydrogen bonds.
 Free or entrapped water

• Water that can be extracted easily from

foods by squeezing or cutting
or pressing is called as free water.
• Free water is held within matrix or gel,
• Entrapped water is immobilized in
capillaries or cells but if released
during cutting or damage, it flows freely.
 Water activity or aw

• is a measurement of water content.

• It is defined as the vapour pressure of a liquid divided by that
of vapour pressure of the pure water at the same temperature;
therefore
• pure distilled water has a water activity of exactly one.
Water activity (aw) =P/Po
where P is the vapor pressure of water in the substance,
and P0 is the vapor pressure of pure water at the same
temperature
• Higher aw substances tend to support more microorganism.
• Bacteria usually require at least 0.91, and fungi at least 0.7.
• Many of the chemical and biological processes that
cause deterioration of foods, and ultimately spoilage, are
water dependent.
• Water activity aw represents the water which is made
available for the microbial action.
• Microbial growth is directly linked to water activity
• Essentially, water activity is the measure of the degree
to which water is bound within the food, and hence is
unavailable for further chemical or microbial activity
• Relative humidity is reported as a percentage whereas
water activity is expressed as a fraction.
• Thus if a sample of meat sausage is sealed within an
airtight container, the humidity of the air in the head
space will rise and eventually equilibrate to a relative
humidity of, say 83%, which means that the water
activity (aw) of the meat sausage is 0.83.
 Water activity and Shelf life of Foods

• It is an important consideration for food product design and food safety.

• Food designers use water activity to formulate products that are shelf stable.
• If a product is kept below a certain water activity, then mold growth is inhibited.
This results in a longer shelf-life.
• Water activity is used in many cases as a critical control point for Hazard Analysis
and
Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs.
• HACCP -management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis
and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material
production
• Samples of the food product are periodically taken from the production area and
tested to ensure water activity values are within a specified range for food quality
and safety
Water activity of some foods

Substance aw
Distilled Water 1
Tap water 0.99
Raw meats 0.99
Milk 0.97
Juice 0.97
Cooked bacon < 0.85
Saturated NaCl solution 0.75
Dried fruits 0.60
Typical indoor air 0.5 - 0.7
Honey 0.5 -
0.7
Dried fruit 0.5 - 0.6
 Microbial growth

• Many of the chemical and biological processes that

cause deterioration of
foods, and ultimately spoilage, are water dependent.
• Microbial growth is directly linked to water activity.
• No microbes can multiply at a water activity below 0.6.

Dehydration
• Dehydration is the oldest form of food preservation
• Drying - removing water for making it unavailable for
microbial growth.
 Salting or curing
• A saturated solution of common salt has a
water activity of close to 0.75.

• Thus by adding sufficient salt to foods, the

water activity can be lowered to a level where
most pathogenic bacteria are inactivated but
the moisture content remains high.

• The water activity of the salted food is 0.8.

 Benefits of drying of food

• The dangerous pathogenic bacteria associated

with food, such as Clostridium or Vibrio spp. which
cause botulism and cholera, can multiply at water
activity values below about 0.9.
• Drying or providing sufficient water-binding
humectants is an effective method of preventing
the growth of food-poisoning bacteria.
• Only Osmophilic yeast and some molds can grow
at water activities in the range0.6 to 0.65.
• Thus, by reducing the water activity below these
values, foods are microbial
stable.d.
 Functional Properties of water in foods

1 Specific Heat
• Some substances heat up quickly, while other substances heat up
slowly. Water has a specific heat capacity of 4182 J/kg°C.
• Because water is such an important and common substance, we
even have a special way to identify the amount of energy it takes
to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius—a Calorie.
• The specific heat of water is quite a bit higher than many other
common substances. That’s because water, comprised of two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, is electronegative. ally
positive charge and the other will have a partially negative charge.
2 SOLUBILITY OF MATERIALS IN
WATER
• Water is a universal solvent as well as a solvent
for many substances because of strong
interactions between water and other
substances, its high dipole moment, and its
ability to donate and accept protons for formation
of hydrogen bonds.
• A foodstuff ususally contains various organic and
inorganic substances. These solutes modify the
properties of water.
• At ambient temperature and pressure, the food
components (carbohydrates, proteins, minerals,
acids) are miscible in water, while lipids have
fairly little interactions with water.
3. Water Activity (aw)
• Water can be bound to other substances such as
proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Therefore in
foods, water will be present in both the free form
and the bound form.

• The amount of free water available is referred to

as water activity or aw. Water activity range from
0 to 1 with 1 having the highest aw. High water
activity increase the rate of food spoilage, since
bacteria will have more water to use and
multiply.
 3. Water Activity (aw)
• Water activity is a better indicator of a product’s
shelf life than the total moisture which combines
both free and bound water. The rate at which
certain chemical reactions proceed such as lipid
oxidation and Maillard browning reaction are
affected by aw.

• Salt is a very good preservative due to its ability

to effectively bind water and reduce its water
activity quickly. The graph below represents real
data collected in my food science class
comparing the effect of salt and sugar
concentrations on water activity.
4. Heat Transfer
• Water is an important medium for heat transfer in
cooling, cooking, and commercial sterilization of
food. Water freezes at 0 oC (32 oF). When it
freezes, water becomes less dense. This
explains why ice floats on water.
• During freezing, water expands by about 9% due
to changes in its molecular bond configuration.
Therefore containers must be designed to
accommodate this expansion.
• When ice is heated, its temperature is increased.
The energy required to raise the temperature of
1 gram of water by 1 oC is called the specific
heat capacity.
 HEAT TRANFER CONTINUE
• The specific heat of water is 4.184 Joules/gram
oC. Once ice reaches a temperature of 0 oC it will
begin to melt but it will not increase in
temperature until all the melting is complete. This
is called the latent heat of fusion of water.
• As you apply heat to water, its temperature will
increase until it gets to 100 oC where it will boil
and convert to steam. However during the
transition from liquid to steam, it will not increase
in temperature. Therefore the energy absorbed
during the transition from liquid to steam is called
the latent heat of vaporization.
 HEAT TRANSFER CONTINUE
• The specific heat of water and its latent heat is
relatively high compared to most liquids. This
allows it to take more heat to boil. In other words
it has the capacity to pull a large amount of heat
from its surroundings.
• This makes it a good cooling agent. Once water
is boiling or in steam form, it contains a lot of
stored up energy which can then be given back
to its environment. This makes water a good
heating agent.
5.Sublimation

• A very interesting property of water is that it is

capable of sublimation. That means that it can
move from solid to gas without melting. Melting
from ice to water occurs at 0 oC at normal
atmospheric pressure of 1 atmosphere.
• However, if you drop the pressure below 0.006
atmospheres, you can get ice to move directly to
a gas. This is what is done in freeze drying. First,
water is frozen and then a strong vacuum is
applied to cause the ice to sublimate.
5 Sublimation
• Sublimation can occur at any combination of low
temperature and pressure along the sublimation
line.
• Freeze drying offers some functional benefits
such as better texture and flavor retention
compared to drying using heat.
6 Expansion During Freezing

• Water expands during freezing.

This occurs because the molecules reorient
themselves in an open hexagonal arrangement
having more internal space than exists in a liquid
state.
7 Boiling Point

• Water boils at 100oC at sea level. However, at

higher altitudes where atmospheric pressure is
less, boiling occurs at lower temperatures. This
means that cooking your foods at higher
altitudes will take longer due to the lower
temperature that water is able to reach.

• Boiling temperature is elevated in the presence

of dissolved solutes such as sugar and salt.
 8 Conductivity

• You may have often heard the warning to keep

electrical appliances away from water in order to
avoid getting shocked. After hearing this so many
times, I bet you assume that water is a good
conductor of electricity.
• It turns out however that water is a poor conductor of
electricity in the pure state. It is the charged particles
in water such as dissolved ions from salts that
makes it an excellent electrical conductor.
• Distilled water (0.0 % salt) conducts electricity poorly
but conductivity drastically increases with even a
small incremental increases in salt.
7 Transportation

Water is used as a transport medium to move

food and waste material throughout the plant.
This is a common way to transport and clean
produce at the same time.

Materials that are denser than water (>1g/cm3)

such as dirt, metal, stones, and rotten food will
sink to the bottom while materials that are less
dense than water (<1g/cm3) such as many
whole and sound fruits and vegetables, will
float.
EXPRESSION OF THE AMOUNT OF WATER IN FOOD

• Moisture content is the quantity of water

contained in a food material. Moisture
content is used in a wide range of scientific
and technical areas, and is expressed as a
ratio, which can range from 0 (completely
dry) to the value of the materials' porosity at
saturation.
• Moisture content is expressed as a
percentage of moisture based on total weight
(wet basis) or dry matter (dry basis).
• Wet basis moisture content is generally used.
Dry basis is used primarily in research.
Dry Basis Moisture Content

• Dry basis moisture content (designated Md)

is described by the percentage equivalent of
the ratio of the weight of water (WW) to the
weight of the dry matter (Wd).

• Dry basis moisture is most commonly used

for describing moisture changes during
drying. When a sample loses or gains
moisture, the change in the dry basis
moisture is linearly related to the weight loss
or gain.
Wet Basis Moisture Content

• Wet basis moisture content (designated MW) is

described by the percentage equivalent of the ratio of the
weight of water (WW) to the total weight of the material
(Wt).
• Wet basis moisture is used to describe the water content
of agricultural materials and food products. When the
term "moisture content" is used in the food industry it
almost always refers to wet basis moisture content.

• One important example occurs in the grain industry

where moisture content of whole grains is determined at
each point in the marketing channel where the grain
changes ownership.
 Uses Of Moisture Content

1. Storability

2. Agglomeration in the case of powders

3. Microbiological stability

4. Flow properties, viscosity

5. Dry substance content

6. Concentration or purity

7. Commercial grade (compliance with quality agreements)

8. Nutritional value of the product

9. Legal conformity (statutory regulations governing food)

Water activity and food preservation.

aw concept
• The concept of aw has been very useful in food
preservation and on that basis many processes
could be successfully adapted and new products
designed.
• Water has been called the universal solvent as it
is a requirement for growth, metabolism, and
support of many chemical reactions occurring in
food products
Water activity and food preservation.

Microorganisms vs. aw value

The definition of moisture conditions in which
pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms cannot
grow is of paramount importance to food
preservation.
It is well known that each microorganism has a
critical aw below which growth cannot occur. For
instance, pathogenic microorganisms cannot grow
at aw <0.86; yeasts and moulds are more tolerant
and usually no growth occurs at aw <0.62.
The so-called intermediate moisture foods (IMF)
have aw values in the range of 0.65-0.90
Water activity and food preservation.

Enzymatic and chemical changes related to aw values

• Food products are most stable with respect to lipid
oxidation, non-enzymatic browning, enzyme activity, and
of course, the various microbial parameters. As aw
increases, the probability of the food product deteriorating
increases.
• enzyme-catalyzed reactions can occur in foods with
relatively low water contents. two features of these
results as follows:
1. The rate of hydrolysis increases with increased water
activity but is extremely slow with very low activity.
2. For each instance of water activity there appears to be a
maximum amount of hydrolysis, which also increases with
water content.
Recommended substances to reduce aw in fruits

1 Glucose

Glucose is not a very good humectant due to the lower

water holding capacity (WHC), which makes it difficult to
obtain the isotherm curve at low aw.
Recommended substances to reduce aw in fruits

2 Fructose
Fructose has a higher water activity reduction capacity and
therefore is more desirable as a humectant in stabilizing food
products.

3 Sucrose

Sucrose is one of the most studied sugars and is widely

used in food systems, in the confectionary industry,
both in the U.S. and Europe, but has a lower water
activity reduction capacity compared to fructose.