Food Technology Glossary

The commercial sterility standard for low-acid canned food: a heat process delivering twelve decimal reductions of Clostridium botulinum spores.

Estimating shelf life by storing product under elevated stress, usually temperature, and extrapolating using a kinetic model such as Q10 or Arrhenius.

A substance that tastes sour and has a pH below 7. In food, acids come from fruits, curd, or are added on purpose.

A process contaminant formed from asparagine and reducing sugars during Maillard browning above about 120 °C, classified as a probable human carcinogen.

Mixing a cheaper or harmful substance into food to increase profit or quantity, while hiding this from the buyer.

A group of highly toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxins produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, commonly in groundnut, maize and spices.

A quality certification mark used in India for agricultural products such as ghee, spices, honey, and pulses, run by the government.

The highly branched fraction of starch, with α-1,4 chains joined by α-1,6 branch points roughly every 20–25 units.

The essentially linear fraction of starch, made of α-1,4-linked glucose units. Typically 20–30% of common starches.

A condition where the blood has too few healthy red blood cells or too little haemoglobin, most often caused by a lack of iron in the diet.

A natural substance in some foods that reduces how well the body can absorb a nutrient, even though the nutrient is present in the food.

A substance that delays oxidative rancidity. Primary antioxidants (BHA, BHT, TBHQ, tocopherols) donate hydrogen to break the radical chain; secondary antioxidants (citric acid, EDTA) chelate pro-oxidant metals.