Layers of Water

Horizontal Scale: Microns

Vertical Scale: Angstroms
Surface of solid
biopolymers
Layers of
Water
Monolayer: Also called Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Layer (BET),
Extremely low moisture content
Monolayer: Water is bound to hydroxyl groups, polysaccharides,
carbonyl and amino groups of proteins
Bound Water
2-3 Layers of Water: Moderate Moisture Content
Several Layers of Water: High Moisture Content
Free Water
Radius of a water
molecule:
2.73 Angstroms
Examples of Monolayer
Moisture Contents (%)
Gelatin: 11%
Amorphous Lactose: 6%
Spray Dried Milk: 3%
At moisture contents below monolayer value,
there is a higher rate of lipid oxidation

At higher moisture contents there is increased
Maillard browning, enzymatic and microbial
activity
Food is most stable at Monolayer
Moisture Content

Equilibrium Moisture Content
(EMC)
If food is exposed to a constant relative
humidity (Equilibrium Relative Humidity),
after sufficiently long time, its moisture
content becomes constant. This is called
equilibrium moisture content.
ERH (Equilibrium RH)
EMC (Equilibrium MC)
EMC Versus ERH Curve
Equilibrium Relative Humidity (%)
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Bound Water
Free Water
Monolayer
Hysteresis
Reason For Hysteresis
Ink-Bottle Effect
Large Pore
Small Pore is
Slow To Drain
Small Pores
Large Pores
Hysteresis results because small
pores adsorb moisture quickly
but they release moisture at last
This occurs due to surface
tension forces between pore
walls and moisture
Smaller the pore diameter,
greater the surface tension forces
Two Types of Surface Boundary
Conditions Can Be Used to Predict
Drying
1:
EMC
2:
M = K
m
A (Pwfood - Pwair)
Moisture Content
Dry Basis (d.b.) = Mass of Moisture
Mass of Solids
Wet Basis (w.b.) = Mass of Moisture
Mass of Solids +Mass of Moisture
Resistance to Moisture Transport
External Resistance (Inverse of mass transfer
coefficient)



Internal Resistance
Internal
External
Initially
Loss of moisture from the surface is compensated by the
moisture movement from inside
The surface is saturated with water
Drying rate is controlled by external resistance to moisture
transfer
Drying rate is constant

After Some Time
There is not sufficient supply of moisture from inside
Surface is not saturated with water
Drying rate is controlled by internal resistance to moisture
transfer
Drying rate starts decreasing
Rate of Drying
Constant Rate Period
Falling Rate Period
Settling Period
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Drying Time
Critical Moisture Content
Controlled by
external resistance
Controlled by both
external and internal
resistance
Constant Rate Drying
Maybe very short, because surface vapor
pressure is rarely equal to the vapor pressure
of free pan of water
Two Falling Rate Periods
Constant Rate Period
Settling Period
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Drying Time
Critical Moisture Content
1
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Falling Rate Period
2
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Falling Rate Period
1
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Falling Rate is due to both external and internal
resistance
2
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Falling Rate is caused by internal resistance only.
Drying is very slow. This may be due to solid-water
interaction and glass-transition effects