Thermodynamic approach to equilibrium isotherms in salted structured food

Abstract

[EN] Some foods are preserved by salting in NaCl saturation conditions (fish, meat and some vegetables). It is known that the polyphasic and multicomponent character of foods plays a basic role in defining equilibrium conditions; therefore, it is essential for a correct modeling of food behavior. However, in most cases, only one homogeneous phase is considered for process modeling. In this paper, the polyphasic and multicomponent character of foods was applied for thermodynamic description of salted foods in order to have a better analysis of their water sorption isotherms. A simplified model of the food in terms of four phases (aqueous solution of salt and native soluble solids, solid matrix and fat) is proposed. The water sharing out between phases was analyzed, and the water content and relationships for each phase were proposed. This model was applied to salted meat isotherms, obtaining a good fitting between experimental and predicted data. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.