Chemistry Stack Exchange
Chemistry Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [food-chemistry]

For questions related to the chemistry of food.

Food chemistry is the study of the chemistry and biochemistry of food. Broadly speaking this field is concerned with analytical, biochemical, microbiological, chemical, physical, nutritional, sensory, and toxicological aspects of foods, food ingredients, and food processes.

The journal Food Chemistry includes the following topics: chemical analysis of food, chemical additives and toxins; chemistry relating to certain aspects of food; structural changes in molecules during the processing and storage of foods; direct effects on foods of the use of agrochemicals; chemical quality in food engineering and technology, and measurement of micronutrients, macronutrients, additives and contaminants in foodstuffs.

The discipline of food chemistry borrows from organic chemistry, biochemistry, nutritional biochemistry, physical chemistry, toxicology, analytical chemistry, and chemical engineering.

440 questions
29
votes
2 answers

What substances do humans consume that are caloric but neither protein, carb, nor fat?

On the Medical Sciences StackExchange site I asked Can a calorie be neither protein, carb, nor fat? and got a very helpful answer, which was that ethanol (in alcoholic drinks) is caloric but neither a protein, nor a carb, nor a fat. I then asked a…
Nathan Wailes
  • 409
  • 1
  • 4
  • 8
13
votes
4 answers

Sodium Bisulfate vs Sodium Bisulfite

I'm wanting to do a follow up to this Q&A on the cooking stack regarding browning avocados. I specifically want to expand my experiment to include the options in Wayfaring Stranger's Answer. Unfortunately, I managed to get the wrong stuff, and…
Jolenealaska
  • 183
  • 1
  • 1
  • 10
11
votes
1 answer

Why does butter get soft with heat, but not ice?

Sometimes a recipe asks me to soften the butter before I use it. This can be accomplished with a few seconds in the microwave, or just by leaving it out at room temperature for a while. Ice, on the other hand, does not get soft with heat. It just…
Eli Rose
  • 253
  • 3
  • 7
10
votes
2 answers

What makes alcohol a good conservation product?

A common way of preserving food and organisms is immersion in alcohol. But what causes alcohol to preserve these items well?
Marijn
  • 505
  • 1
  • 6
  • 16
10
votes
1 answer

Why does soup turn purple when lemon juice and salt are added?

Well you have probably heard about salpeter. I don't know if it is a myth or not that it is used to reduce men's libido by adding to food especially in boarding schools and remote military campuses. I didn't know that before but because I studied at…
Curiousman
  • 101
  • 1
  • 3
9
votes
1 answer

Is there any food-safe way to break down capsaicin (chilli) so food is less spicy?

That is, is there a chemical or enzymatic reaction with capsaicin that break it down into other food-safe chemicals? Or alternatively, bind to capsaicin such that it doesn't trigger the same spicy receptors in our mouths. I know about how casein can…
Louis Pan
  • 99
  • 1
  • 4
7
votes
1 answer

What chemicals are present in burnt toast?

I'm planning to do an experiment where I extract burnt toast and test how that affects the growth of mung beans. I know burnt food contains PAHs, but what are some other chemicals present and how would they affect plant growth?
Adi
  • 547
  • 6
  • 9
7
votes
1 answer

What will happen to bottle of cola after 50 years?

I'm going to make a time capsule for 25 or 50 years, and I don't know wether it's safe to put food, e.g. bottle of cola there. Will it explode and ruin the capsule? Will it be ok to drink it, if it won't explode? Also, what about Snickers or a…
Danyl Filatov
  • 219
  • 2
  • 4
7
votes
1 answer

Does rice protein have a high concentration of arsenic?

According to recent reports rice is high in arsenic. What about rice protein? I am taking a protein powder that has "yellow pea protein isolate, sprouted whole-grain rice protein concentrate, organic instantized quinoa seed protein, organic Chia…
larry909
  • 181
  • 2
  • 7
7
votes
1 answer

What is the standard industrial method for measuring caffeine content in food and drinks?

There are a lot of questions here looking for simple methods to measure caffeine content (or extract it), including one of mine here and on the Coffee site: Home science optical absorption test for approximate caffeine quantity in coffee? Are there…
uhoh
  • 5,778
  • 3
  • 31
  • 101
6
votes
1 answer

Why is butter harder if it once got warm?

I realized that butter, when kept cool after buying, can be easily cut and spread when taken out of the fridge. If it gets warm once, however, it will be less soft the next time I take it out of the fridge. If it reaches room temperature once, it…
mhchem
  • 3,316
  • 2
  • 16
  • 34
6
votes
3 answers

Chemistry underlying blacks spots in banana bread

I've noticed that when I bake banana bread with certain brands of self-raising flour, the finished product looks more or less like any other cake. However, when I use flour with sodium bicarbonate as the leavening agent, black spots appear…
thelastquagga
  • 89
  • 1
  • 4
6
votes
2 answers

Reason for prescence of oil bubbles while frying

When frying with oil, it's generally assumed that heavy bubbling indicates frying, and little to no bubbling indicates a lack thereof. What's the connection between bubbles and frying? If you create bubbles in some other way, baking soda and vinegar…
TheEnvironmentalist
  • 333
  • 1
  • 9
6
votes
1 answer

Does baked bread have the same amount of calories as its ingredients?

I bake a loaf of bread containing: 500 g strong flour (1700 kcal) 40 g butter (300 kcal) 24 g yeast (80 kcal) For a total of 2080 kcal. How many calories does my finished loaf contain? My assumption is that at most, some of the energy in the…
Ben
  • 163
  • 1
  • 5
6
votes
1 answer

Can Fe and Ca react and become unusable in some foods?

In Turkish cuisine there is a popular food called "tahin pekmez" (tahini with grape molasses). According to a 2017 article on some Turkish news site, mixing these is supposedly counter-productive due to the calcium in the tahini bonding with the…
TaylanKammer
  • 163
  • 3
1
2 3 4