ACIDITY TEST INTRODUCTION: Acidity is the total amount of hydrogen ion present in the food sample with the expectation of those bound to alkaline ions. The hydrogen ion can be either attached to acids or in the form of free ions or anions. Titratable acidity is different than total acidity although at times both terms are used to mean the same thing total acidity is the total amount of organic acids in the food sample. This all acids (tartaric, oxalic acid, citric acid, sulfuric acid, lactic acid and acetic acid) The acidity can be determined by using titration method. Titration is a laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis that uis used to determine the unknown concentration of a known reactant. Because volume measurements play …show more content…
Moisture is an important factor in food quality, preservation and resistance to deterioration. Determination of moisture content also is necessary to calculate the content of other food constituents on a uniform basis (e.g: dry weight basis). The dry matter that remains after moisture analysis is commonly referred as total solids(Nielsen, 2010). Moisture content is also important to food scientist for a number of different reasons: o Legal and labelling requirements: There are legal limits to the maximum or minimum amount of water that must be present in certain types of food o Economic The cost of many foods depends on the amount of water they contain- water is an expensive ingredient and manufacturers often try to incorporate as much as possible in a food without exceeding some maximum legal requirement o Microbial stability The propensity of microorganisms to grow in foods depends on their water content. For this reason many foods are dried below some critical moisture content o Food …show more content…
Hence, ash content can be determined by incinerating a known quantity of foodstuff, previously dried until constant weight is obtained. Ashing should be done at temperature exceeding 550° C at which the temperature of organic salts like alkali chlorides will be volatilize. Moreover, a portion of the ash will fuse and enclose some carbon, prevented them from being ignited. Determination of the ash and the mineral content of foods is important for a number of reasons: Nutrional labelling -the concentration and type of minerals present must often be stipulated on the label of food Quality -the quality of many foods depends on the concentration and type of minerals they contain including their taste, appearance, texture and stability Microbiological stability -high mineral contents are sometimes used to retard the growth of microorganisms Nutrition -some minerals are essential to a healthy diet (e.g: calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium) Processing -it is often important to know the mineral content of foods during processing because t this affects the physiochemical properties of