Practical Food Rheology

Rheology is fundamentally important in food manufacturing in twomajor senses. Understanding the way in which a substance moves andbehaves is essential in order to be able to transport and mix itduring processing. Secondly, the rheology of a product dictatesmuch of the consumer experience, e.g. in relation to texture andmouthfeel.

This book doesn't overwhelm the reader with complexmathematical equations but takes a simple and practically-focusedapproach, interpreting the implications of rheological data for usein different food systems. Through this approach industry-basedfood developers / rheologists, students, and academics are givenclear, concise interpretation of rheological data which directlyrelates to actual perceived functionality in the food. Thefunctionality may relate to texture, structure and mouthfeel, andmay result as a function of temperature, pH, flocculation,concentration effects, and mixing.

The interpretative view is based on the principle that the foodrheologist will produce a graph, for example of viscosity orgelation profiling, and then have to extract a practical meaningfrom it. For example, if viscosity falls with time as afunction of pH, this knowledge can be used to tell the customerthat the viscosity can be followed with just a pH meter and astopwatch. Rheological measurements have shown that once thepH has dropped 1 unit after 10 minutes, the viscosity has beenhalved. This is the type of practical and valuable informationfor customers of the industrial food rheologist which the book willenable readers to access.

Key features:

* A uniquely practical approach to the often difficult science offood rheology
* Includes chapters introducing the basics of food rheologybefore moving on to how data can be usefully and easily interpretedby the food scientist
* Can be used as a teaching aid on academic or industry-basedcourses