Abstract
Moisture content and water activity are key parameters in predicting the stability of low moisture content products. However, conventional methods for moisture content and water activity determination (e.g., loss on drying method, Karl Fischer titration, dew point method) are time consuming, demand specialized equipment and are not amenable to online processing. For this reason they are typically applied at-line on a limited number of samples. Near infrared hyperspectral chemical imaging is an emerging technique for spatially characterising the spectral properties of samples. Due to the fast acquisition of chemical images, many samples can be evaluated simultaneously, thus providing the potential for online evaluation of samples during processing. In this study, the potential of NIR chemical imaging for predicting the moisture content and water activity of a selection of low moisture content food systems is evaluated.
Highlights
Water activity, and moisture content (MC) are the most valuable characteristics for assessing the quality and stability of dried foods [1]
Moisture content represents a measure of the quantity of water in a product, providing information about yield, quantity and texture, but does not provide
Water activity represents a measure of water that is available to react with other molecules and participate in spoilage reactions such as enzymatic browning or microbial growth
Summary
Water activity (aw), and moisture content (MC) are the most valuable characteristics for assessing the quality and stability of dried foods [1]. Moisture content represents a measure of the quantity of water in a product, providing information about yield, quantity and texture, but does not provide. Molecules 2015, 20 reliable information about microbial safety. Water activity represents a measure of water that is available to react with other molecules and participate in spoilage reactions such as enzymatic browning or microbial growth. Aw is an indicator of stability with respect to microbial growth, biochemical reaction rates and physical properties. The relationship between moisture content and water activity (aw) is complex. An increase in aw is almost always accompanied by an increase in the moisture content, but in a nonlinear trend, called the moisture sorption isotherm, at a given temperature
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