Chemistry of food and food processing: composition, reactions during cooking/storage, flavour and colour formation, nutritional degradation. Large industrial domain and consumer-safety substrate.
food-chemistry
Maillard reaction
Non-enzymatic condensation of reducing sugar carbonyl with amine (amino acid, protein), followed by Amadori rearrangement and degradation…
Lipid oxidation / rancidity
Autocatalytic radical chain: initiation R–H→R•, propagation R• + O₂ → ROO•, ROO• + R'H → ROOH + R'•, decomposition into aldehydes (hexanal,…
Enzymatic browning
Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in bruised apples, potatoes, bananas catalyses phenol + O₂ → o-quinone, which polymerises into melanin-like…
Starch gelatinisation
On heating in water above Tg (~60–75°C depending on source), amylopectin crystallites melt and amylose leaches, yielding viscous paste.…
Protein denaturation (cooking)
Heat, pH, or shear unfolds tertiary structure, exposing hydrophobic residues that aggregate (egg-white coagulation at ~62°C, myosin…
Food emulsion
Colloidal dispersion of immiscible liquids stabilised by surfactants (lecithin in mayonnaise, caseins in milk). Stability governed by…
Fermentation chemistry
Microbial anaerobic catabolism of sugars: Embden–Meyerhof glycolysis to pyruvate, then ethanol + CO₂ (yeast, beer/wine), lactate (LAB,…
Food additives
Functional chemicals with E-numbers: preservatives (E200–299), antioxidants (E300–399), emulsifiers (E400–499), colourants (E100–199),…