Vertical Scale: Angstroms Surface of solid biopolymers Layers of Water Monolayer: Also called Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Layer (BET), Extremely low moisture content Monolayer: Water is bound to hydroxyl groups, polysaccharides, carbonyl and amino groups of proteins Bound Water 2-3 Layers of Water: Moderate Moisture Content Several Layers of Water: High Moisture Content Free Water Radius of a water molecule: 2.73 Angstroms Examples of Monolayer Moisture Contents (%) Gelatin: 11% Amorphous Lactose: 6% Spray Dried Milk: 3% At moisture contents below monolayer value, there is a higher rate of lipid oxidation
At higher moisture contents there is increased Maillard browning, enzymatic and microbial activity Food is most stable at Monolayer Moisture Content
Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) If food is exposed to a constant relative humidity (Equilibrium Relative Humidity), after sufficiently long time, its moisture content becomes constant. This is called equilibrium moisture content. ERH (Equilibrium RH) EMC (Equilibrium MC) EMC Versus ERH Curve Equilibrium Relative Humidity (%) E q u i l i b r i u m
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Bound Water Free Water Monolayer Hysteresis Reason For Hysteresis Ink-Bottle Effect Large Pore Small Pore is Slow To Drain Small Pores Large Pores Hysteresis results because small pores adsorb moisture quickly but they release moisture at last This occurs due to surface tension forces between pore walls and moisture Smaller the pore diameter, greater the surface tension forces Two Types of Surface Boundary Conditions Can Be Used to Predict Drying 1: EMC 2: M = K m A (Pwfood - Pwair) Moisture Content Dry Basis (d.b.) = Mass of Moisture Mass of Solids Wet Basis (w.b.) = Mass of Moisture Mass of Solids +Mass of Moisture Resistance to Moisture Transport External Resistance (Inverse of mass transfer coefficient)
Internal Resistance Internal External Initially Loss of moisture from the surface is compensated by the moisture movement from inside The surface is saturated with water Drying rate is controlled by external resistance to moisture transfer Drying rate is constant
After Some Time There is not sufficient supply of moisture from inside Surface is not saturated with water Drying rate is controlled by internal resistance to moisture transfer Drying rate starts decreasing Rate of Drying Constant Rate Period Falling Rate Period Settling Period M o i s t u r e
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Drying Time Critical Moisture Content Controlled by external resistance Controlled by both external and internal resistance Constant Rate Drying Maybe very short, because surface vapor pressure is rarely equal to the vapor pressure of free pan of water Two Falling Rate Periods Constant Rate Period Settling Period M o i s t u r e
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Drying Time Critical Moisture Content 1 st Falling Rate Period 2 nd Falling Rate Period 1 st Falling Rate is due to both external and internal resistance 2 nd Falling Rate is caused by internal resistance only. Drying is very slow. This may be due to solid-water interaction and glass-transition effects