Analysis of the phase behavior of the aqueous poly(ethylene glycol)-Ficoll system

The PEG-Ficoll polymer phase system is one that has been overlooked in the past for biotechnology applications because of the stability of its emulsions. However, new applications, such as emulsion coating of cells, are appearing that rely on this very property. Ficoll is highly polydisperse and multimodal with three distinct Ficoll peaks in gel permeation chromatography. As a result, the transition between one-phase and two-phase systems is blurred and the binodials obtained through turbidometric titration and tie-line analysis differ significantly. Moreover, since the three Ficoll peaks partition differently, tie-line analysis cannot be described by a simple model of the aqueous two-phase system. A simple modification to the model allowed for excellent fit, and this modification may prove well-suited for the many practical cases where aqueous two-phase systems fail to display parallel tie-lines as implicitly assumed in the simpler model.

Friction factors and rheological behavior of Australian honey in a straight pipe

The pumping characteristics of four Australian honey samples were investigated in a straight pipe. Six flow rates (100-500 kg h(-1)) were studied at three temperatures (35-50degreesC). The pressure loss increased with an increase in the length of the pipe, as the low rate was increased and as the temperature was reduced. In the 25.4 mm-pipe, the Reynolds number ranged from 0.2-32.0 and are substantially less than the critica value (2040-2180) for laminar condition in the system. The relationship between the wall shear stress and shear rate approximated power-law behaviour, and the power-law index was not significantly (p>0.05) different from 1.0. The honey samples exhibited Newtonian behaviour at all the temperatures and this was confirmed by rheometric studies using Couette geometry. A friction chart was generated independent of temperature and the type of honey. An equation was developed to predict the pressure loss of the honey in a typical pipeline at any temperature once the viscosity-temperature relationship had been established.

Stickiness measurement techniques for food powders: a review

The importance of sticky behaviour of amorphous food powders has been recognized over many decades in the food industry due to its influence on process and handling abilities and quality of the powders. This paper emphasizes the role of stickiness in the food powder industry as well as reviews the stickiness characterization techniques developed to date. This paper also attempts to correlate the stickiness behaviour of food powders to the instrumental analysis such as glass transition temperature. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Glass transition and enthalpy relaxation of amorphous food saccharides: A review

Many food materials exist in a disordered amorphous solid state due to processing. Therefore, understanding the concept of amorphous state, its important phase transition (i.e., glass transition), and the related phenomena (e.g., enthalpy relaxation) is important to food scientists. Food saccharides, including mono-, di-, oligo-, and polysaccharides, are among the most important major components in food. Focusing on the food saccharides, this review covers important topics related to amorphous solids, including the concept and molecular arrangement of amorphous solid, the formation of amorphous food saccharides, the concept of glass transition and enthalpy relaxation, physical property changes and molecular mobility around the glass transition, measurement of the glass transition and enthalpy relaxation, their mathematical descriptions and models, and influences on food stability.

Applications of the cyclone stickiness test for characterization of stickiness in food powders

The cyclone stickiness test (CST) technique was applied to measure the stickiness temperature and relative humidity of whey, honey, and apple juice powders. A moisture sorption isotherm study was conducted to analyze the surface moisture content of whey powder. The glass transition temperatures of the sample powder were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The stickiness results of these products were found within 20 degrees C above their surface glass transition temperatures, which is well within the normal temperature range for glass transition in general. The results obtained by the CST technique were found consistent with DSC values.