1. Heat behavior of food products

Among the food constituents present in most foods, a distinction can be made between those made up of low-molar-weight molecules (water, lipids, sugars, etc.) and those made up of extended-chain macromolecules (polyosides or polysaccharides, fibrillar proteins, gelatin) or with a compact structure (globular proteins). Under the influence of temperature, these food constituents undergo transformations of physical state, structure or phase, which, when close to equilibrium, can be analyzed by DSC and the application of certain thermodynamic and/or kinetic models. These include crystallization-melting reactions, helix-pelot transconformations, denaturation, glass transitions and sol-gel phase transformations. Table 1 gives examples of food constituents likely to undergo one or other of these transformation reactions under the effect...