Thermophysical properties of foodstuffs
Minimum overall nutritional deterioration of foodstuffs is generally attained by maximizing the rate of heat input and minimizing the duration of heating. Measurement of thermophysical data for foodstuffs is discussed in terms of specific heat, latent energy, enthalpy, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and density. Since phase change in foodstuffs occurs over a temperature range rather than at a discrete temperature, enthalpy is preferred over sensible and latent energy measurements as it can be used to fix the state of a sample very accurately; also, in the fusion process there is no precise way of separating sensible and latent energies. The first step in determining property data for foodstuffs is to describe the material in conventionally accepted terms. Future work should be concentrated in the area of thermal diffusivity and enthalpy measurements.