The Importance of Moisture and Water Activity
Water has been called the universal solvent because it is a requirement for growth and metabolism of microbes and the support of many chemical reactions which occur in food products. Water occurs in food systems in both the free and bound states. Free water is just that, free for chemical reactions, to support microbiological growth, and to act as a transporting medium for compounds. In the bound state, water is not available to participate in these reactions as it is tied up by water-soluble compounds such as sugar, salt, gums, etc., (osmotic binding) and by the surface effects of the substrate (matrix binding). These water-binding effects reduce the vapor pressure of the water over the food substrate according Raoult's Law. By comparing this vapor pressure with that of pure water at the same temperature one establishes a ratio which is called water activity (a which by definition is 1 for pure water. A one molal solution of sugar has a aw of 0.98, and one molal sodium chloride has aw of 0.9669. A saturated sodium chloride solution has a aw of 0.755. Thus the Naci solution in a closed container will develop an equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) in the headspace of 75.5%. Therefore: aw = ERH/100
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