NC State NCSU Food Rheology Lab



What is Food Science?
Practice quizzes
Information and quizzes
Links



 
 

 

Science Olympiad Food Chemistry Event-

Added in 2005, this event is not Chemistry using food...it is Food Chemistry! Please check out all the food chemistry information and links to many helpful websites below the past state and national events. Please check out the Food Science Department web site for tour information.

Leavening Agents (B and C)
Leaven- a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid or a material used to produce a gas that 'lightens' dough or batter.
- used to raise baked goods.
-water a leavening agent (pie crusts, some crackers)
-air incorporated into batter (angel and sponge cakes)
- expand when heated and cause the raising of the dough or batter when gas is trapped in matrix of gluten and starch from flour

Yeast
-breads and sweet doughs usually leavened with carbon dioxide produced from yeast fermentation
-Saccharomyces cerevisiae
ferments simple sugars and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol
-gradual process that starts slowly and increases rate with time as yeast cells multiply and starch is broken down to form sugar

Chemical agents

-produce carbon dioxide gas
-rapid production, can be instantaneous

Baking Soda
-NaHCO3
-needs moisture and an acid source such as vinegar, citrus juice, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, chocolate, cocoa (not Dutch-processed), honey, molasses (also brown sugar), fruits or maple syrup to react
-used to neutralize acids in foods
-around 4 times as strong as baking powder
-can cause soapy flavor in high amounts

all about baking soda from Wikipedia

Single-acting and Double-acting Baking Powders
- NaHCO3 plus acidifier(s) and drying agent (usually an acid salt and cornstarch)
-can cause acidity and/or bitter off-flavor
-single acid salt reaction with soda to create gas when moistened in single-acting
-two acidifiers used in double acting to produce CO2 in two steps, first when moistened, then again when heated
-double-acting is the only commercial baking powder available today

Difference between baking powder and baking soda

Experiment with baking powder and baking soda
Interesting history and facts about baking powder and baking soda

 

Vitamins (B and C)
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
-water-soluble organic acid with antioxidant properties
-used in the food industry to prevent browning of fruits and oxidation of fats
-necessary to prevent Scurvy
-important in formation of collagen and in absorption of iron and healing of wounds

General information from Wikipedia
Ohio State Extension fact sheet on Vitamin C and nutrition
Uses for Ascorbic acid in the food industry
Simple explanation of the reactions in the Vitamin C test

Quantitative Vitamin C test procedure


Enzymes
Emulsifiers
Acids
Oxidants
Antioxidants
Pigments
Flavors


General article about food additives


Moisture in popcorn
-

Chemistry of Popcorn article from ACS

Popcorn moiture lab

Calories
-Calorie - amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celcius.
-Kilocalorie (1000 calories) is the unit commonly used to represent energy values of foods -or Calorie with a C instead of a c
-not all carbohydrates (or fats, or proteins) yield the exact same amount of energy when burned in a calorimeter, so common averages from studies (in kcal/g) are used
-carbohydrates average 4.1 kcal/gram in a bomb calorimeter, are about 98% digestable and yield 4 kcal/g when consumed
-proteins average 5.7 kcal/
g in a bomb calorimeter, are not as easily digested and yield an average of 4 kcal/g when consumed
-lipids average 9.5 kcal/g in a bomb calorimeter, are 95% digested and yield an average of 9 kcal/g when consumed
-fats are the most concentrated source of food calories
-carbohydrates are the cheapest source of calories, proteins the most expensive
(from Food Science, by Norman Potter. AVI Press, New York)

Testing nuts for calorie content
Another test for calories from PBS
Test from Nebraska using a cheese puff and chimney calorimeter


Density
-Density - measure of mass per unit volume
-expressed in kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3). Other units fully within the SI include grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3) and megagrams per cubic metre (Mg/m3). Since both the litre and the tonne or metric ton are also acceptable for use with the SI, a wide variety of units such as kilograms per litre (kg/L) are also used. Imperial units or U.S. customary units, the units of density include pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), pounds per cubic yard (lb/yd³), pounds per cubic inch (lb/in³), ounces per cubic inch (oz/in³), pounds per gallon (for U.S. or imperial gallons) (lb/gal), pounds per U.S. bushel (lb/bu),
-dependent on temperature and pressure
-common device for measuring fluid density is a pycnometer

lab for measuring the density of solid samples
lab for measuring the density of samples from Teacherdomain (registration needed to see video)
Use of Archimedes' principle to measure density of liquids
Density demonstrations and facts
Coke vs. Diet Coke experiment and calculations

Boiling point differences due to solutes

information from Sparknotes


Last modified on December 13, 2006
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