Chemistry involves studying natural science to understand the structure, composition, and the metamorphosis of various substances. Substances are elements that make up chemical compounds. Chemistry has major importance in the food industry because it involves studying of chemical processes and how the chemicals interact in both biological and nonbiological food components. Chemistry informs us about changes in food during processing and storage. Chemistry is important in the food industry because it explains the changes in the cooking process, including how ingredients interact to make food and how our body uses food.
The food industry use chemistry as an important tool to analyze food items to understand its nutritious values. For example, chemistry helps us develop various food flavors, preservatives, thickeners and sweeteners. Food chemistry is important when designing and developing new products for the food industries. When studying the composition of various food substances, food chemistry enables manufacturers to understand an array of chemical reaction that could help them form new or improve food products. These improvements can in from of developing new flavors, new aroma, and additives. Food additives help in the preservation of food quality, enhancing the taste and also modifying its appearance. Flavors are important because it determines how the food will smell and taste to attract consumers
The most common importance of food chemistry is in baking where the size and the color of the baked bread are determined by the chemical process that involves mixing various ingredients that result to a tasty bread. Understanding the role of carbon monoxide is key in the baking process. The process where yeast is added to the flour as the yeast cells result in spongy dough is made possible through chemical processes. The food chemistry in baking helps in knowing the quantity of yeast to be used versus the amount of flour, the process of mixing, the duration of incubation and the time required for baking to produce the final product. Since water is key in baking, food chemistry helps us understand the process that allows water vapor in the baking oven that result in the brownish color of the bread.
Food chemistry has given birth to both natural and artificial food preservatives. Several preservative methods have emerged from studying chemical components used for synthesizing food preservative. Food chemistry has allowed manufacturers to develop new additives like the palm wine. Food chemistry plays a major role in ensuring that the food being processed is of high quality and safe for consumption. Understanding food chemistry helps us develop proper ways of handling food and also develop good manufacturing practices. Understanding this reduces the incidence of food-related diseases caused by food poisoning or infection from food products.
Food poisoning is caused when we eat food containing microbial toxins. Food chemistry is a key process in research because it involves studying properties of certain food groups like fats, carbohydrate to determine how each food groups work. The research is applied to develop new ways of using ingredients like fat or sugar replacements. Water is a major component of foods; water facilitates the growth of bacteria that spoils food is not well processed. Chemistry helps us measure the levels of water to enable manufacturers understand the shelf life of their products by adopting different food preservation methods to minimize the levels of water. That is why processes like freezing, refrigeration or dehydration are important part of food preservation. Understanding the chemical processes and the chemical interaction or biological and nonbiological components of food plays a major role in the food industry.
