FOOD

CHEMISTRY
Submitted by: Elizabeth Tan
HH2

What is food chemistry?

Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of
all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological
substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, and
milk as examples.
Food Science deals with the production, processing, distribution,
preparation, evaluation, and utilization of food.

Sensory evaluation can be used to:

Compare similarities/differences in a range of dishes/products;

Evaluate a range of existing dishes/food products;
Analyse food samples for improvements;
Gauge responses to a dish/product, e.g. acceptable v unacceptable;
Explore specific characteristics of an ingredient or dish/food product;
Check whether a final dish/food product meets its original
specification;

Provide objective and subjective feedback data to enable informed

decisions to be made.

Types of food evaluation

Discrimination tests- Aims to evaluate specific attributes. They are
objective tests and include pair comparison, duo trio and triangle.
Preference tests- Supply information about peoples like and dislikes
of a product. They are subjective tests and include pair comparison,
hedonic and scoring.

 Hedonic Scale
1. Prepare the food samples.
2. Ask each person to taste each sample in turn and tick a box, from
'1 Dislike Very Much' to '5. Like Very Much' to indicate their
preference. Use the word file below to help.
3. The person may also wish to make remarks about the products
appearance, taste, odour and texture.
4. Analyse the results. Which sample received the greatest/lowest
scores?

Scoring Tests
Samples are scored on a scale, between like and dislike.
Allow people to evaluate samples and score (place) in order of
preference.
Record their responses.

Duo trio test

Prepare 3 samples, two of which are the same.
Using one of the 2 identical samples as a control, decide which
of the other samples the same as the control is.
Record the tasters responses.

Ranking
Decide on the attribute to be ranked.
Allow people to evaluate samples and place them in rank order.
Record the responses.

- The test can be used to:

Show more opportunities for product development.
Check that a food product meets its original

Uses of food chemistry:

Food Science deals with the production, processing, distribution,
preparation, evaluation, and utilization of food. Food chemists work
with plants that have been harvested for food, and animals that have
been slaughtered for food. Food chemists are concerned with how
these food products are processed, prepared, and distributed. For
example, to address consumer demands, some food chemists are
involved with finding fat and sugar substitutes that do not alter food
taste and texture.

Tongue map

Umami- is one of the

five basic tastes (together
with sweet, sour, bitter an
d salty). People taste umami through receptors for glutamate, commonly
found in its salt form as the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG).
For that reason, scientists consider umami to be distinct from saltiness.

Bitter- having a sharp, pungent taste or smell; not sweet. ; Ex: Bitter
gourd, bitter melon

Sour- having an acid taste like lemon or vinegar. ; Ex: Tamarind

Salty- tasting of, containing, or preserved with salt. ; Ex: Salt
Sweet- Foods rich in simple carbohydrates. ; Ex: Sugar

Sources:
http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/sheet.aspx?
siteId=19&sectionId=83&contentId=308
http://www.math.unl.edu/~jump/Center1/Labs/WhatisFoodChemistry.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami