Food Technology Glossary

Carbohydrate polymers not hydrolysed by human digestive enzymes. Soluble fibre forms viscous gels; insoluble fibre adds bulk.

Removing most of the water from a food, usually by sun, hot air, or machines, so microbes cannot grow easily and the food lasts longer.

An FSSAI campaign that encourages people to eat safe, healthy, and sustainable food, and encourages food businesses to follow good practice.

Energy from food that provides very few vitamins, minerals, or other useful nutrients along with it.

A surface-active molecule with hydrophilic and lipophilic regions that lowers interfacial tension and stabilises an emulsion.

A dispersion of one immiscible liquid in another, stabilised by an emulsifier. Oil-in-water as in milk and mayonnaise, or water-in-oil as in butter and margarine.

Browning catalysed by polyphenol oxidase, which oxidises phenolic compounds to quinones that polymerise into brown melanins. It requires oxygen, the enzyme, and a phenolic substrate.

A protein that speeds up a chemical reaction in food or in the body, without being used up itself.

An amino acid the body cannot make on its own in enough quantity, so it must come from food.

An Indian law that lets the government control the production, supply, and price of essential goods, including many food items, during shortages.

A fat the body cannot make itself and must get from food, needed for functions like brain health and controlling inflammation.

A gaseous plant hormone that triggers and accelerates ripening and senescence, active at parts-per-million concentrations.