A single layer moisture absorption theory as a basis for the stability and availability of moisture in dehydrated foods

Abstract

It has been shown that moisture absorption in dehydrated foods cannot form a layer more than a single molecule deep and the stability of the food has been shown to depend on this single layer. The use of an Aw scale as an index of available moisture in dehydrated foods has been shown to overestimate the parameter. Suggested new definitions have been expressed directly as per cent moisture and as a ratio of the total moisture/bond energy or gaseous water content. It has also been shown that the laboratory method of dehydrating materials at constant temperature by lowering the ambient humidity may impair the subsequent absorption capacity of the material if the humidity is lowered below a certain critical minimum value