%0 Book Section %B Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering - 4 Volume Set %D 2006 %T Fundamental Characteristics of Water %A Chung Chieh %X

Water, a natural occurring and abundant substance that exists in solid, liquid, and gas forms on the planet Earth, has attracted the attention of artists, engineers, poets, writers, philosophers, environmentalists, scientists, and politicians. Every aspect of life involves water as food, as a medium in which to live, or as the essential ingredient of life. The food science aspects of water range from agriculture, aquaculture, biology, biochemistry, cookery, microbiology, nutrition, photosynthesis, power generation, to zoology. Even in the narrow sense of food technology, water is intimately involved in the production, washing, preparation, manufacture, cooling, drying, and hydration of food. Water is eaten, absorbed, transported, and utilized by cells. Facts and data about water are abundant and diverse. This chapter can only selectively present some fundamental characteristics of water molecules and their collective properties for readers when they ponder food science at the molecular level.

%B Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering - 4 Volume Set %7 1st %I Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis %V 1 %P 12-1--12-17 %G eng