Thermal analysis of water-containing systems

Abstract

Thermal analytical techniques offer many advantages in investigations of water-containing systems. This paper will review some of the methodologies used by us in studying food systems: 1) Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC): for determining freezable water, melting point, Tg' (see text), etc. 2) ThermoMechanical Analysis (TMA): for determining softening points as a function of water content, dilatometry and glass transition temperatures. 3) ThermoGravimetric Analysis (TGA): for investigating water uptake curves and water content determination. 4) Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA): for the determination of low-energy transitions.