2002 Annual Report
Research
Application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Polymer Science
to the Study of Storage Stability in Food Systems
Roger Ruan, Professor
Paul Chen, Senior Research Associate
Xiaofei Ye, Research Assistant
Kehua Chang, Graduate Student
Funding Source
U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center; Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station;
Private Gifts
Objective
The goal of the project is to use new approaches to improve understanding
of physiochemical and biological stability of food systems. The specific
objectives are to:
- Develop novel nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (NMR and MRI) for the study of the relationships between the glass transition process, state of water, and physiochemical and biological stability of food systems.
- Investigate the effects of food constituents (such as starch, gluten,
fat, and water) and processing techniques (baking, for example) on the
physical structure, texture, and chemical reactivity of food systems.
Project Description
Instability of foods is a major concern in the development and maintenance
of combat ration systems. Foods can deteriorate during storage or transportation
and develop undesirable or even unacceptable flavor, texture, and color.
Water plays an essential role in the stability of foods. Both the state
and the amount of water in a food material are important. These are influenced
by the initial conditions, which are affected by formulation and processing
conditions, and by physical and chemical changes during storage and transportation.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and
polymer science techniques can be used to determine the initial water
and structure conditions and to monitor the changes in these conditions
during storage and transportation.
Results from this project will be used to develop better formulation,
processing technology, packaging, and storage conditions for combat ration
systems.
Results
This was the eighth year of the project. We have conducted studies on food polymers such as baked products, confections, powdered foods, etc., using the NMR and MRI techniques developed during the project. These NMR and MRI techniques can be used to observe molecular mobility of water and solids, glass transition, distribution of moisture content, temperature, and glass transition temperature in the food systems. Many of the results have been published in peer-reviewed journals.