CONTROL OF WATER IN FOODS DURING STORAGE

Moisture content and its water activity (a(w)) are critical parameters affecting the shelf life of most food products. In most cases excessi ve amounts of water will cause spoilage, while in other cases loss of water will render foods unacceptable. The control of water in foods re quires knowledge of their sorption/desorption behavior, critical moist ure content, the environmental storage conditions of temperature and r elative humidity, packaging parameters including volume to area ratios and permeability. Fast and reliable methods of evaluating the above p arameters are needed to predict the storage life of foods. The importa nce of moisture control in produce as well as in dry products is discu ssed. Fast methods to evaluate water sorption/desorption behavior of f oods are described. A computer program, which integrates all parameter s required to predict the water dependent shelf life of foods, includi ng changing conditions during storage, is also reported