FST 1: Principles of Food Science - Midterm Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, food composition, and global food security for FST 1.

Carbohydrates

The most abundant and diverse class of organic compounds, containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which serve as a primary energy source yielding approximately $4\,\text{kcal/g}$.

Digestible Disaccharides

Simple carbohydrates consisting of two linked monosaccharide units, including sucrose (glucose and fructose), lactose (galactose and glucose), and maltose (glucose and glucose).

Amylopectin vs. Amylose

The two primary forms of plant starch: amylopectin is a branched-chain polymer that is rapidly digested and absorbed, whereas amylose is a long, linear helical chain that digests more slowly.

Dietary Fiber

Edible parts of plants or analogous carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion and absorption in the human small intestine, with complete or partial fermentation occurring in the large intestine; recommended daily intake is $25\text{--}30\,\text{g}$ for adults.

Carbohydrate Unit

A dietary exchange tool used in diabetes meal planning where $1$ unit equals $15\,\text{g}$ of total carbohydrate, providing approximately $60\,\text{Cal}$.

Caramelization

A non-enzymatic browning and flavor-forming reaction resulting from the direct pyrolysis and heating of carbohydrates in the absence of amino acids, yielding brown pigments characterized by hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and its precursors.

Maillard Reaction

A non-enzymatic browning reaction occurring between the carbonyl group of a reducing sugar and the amino group of an amino acid (most reactively lysine), undergoing Amadori rearrangement to form ketosamines and ultimately melanoidins.

Strecker Degradation

The transamination and decarboxylation reaction between $\alpha$-dicarbonyl compounds and $\alpha$-amino acids at elevated temperatures, producing carbon dioxide, aminoketones, and aroma-active aldehydes.

Ketosis

A metabolic state resulting from carbohydrate deficiency or prolonged starvation where the liver utilizes acetyl-CoA to produce ketone bodies from fat breakdown.

Glycemic Index (GI)

A numerical ranking system that measures how quickly available carbohydrates in a specific food raise blood glucose levels relative to pure glucose (assigned a baseline score of $100$).

Malthusian Theorem

The 1793 theory by Thomas Malthus stating that human population increases exponentially while food production increases only linearly, predicting natural population corrections via war, famine, and disease.

Four Pillars of Food Security

The four interrelated dimensions assessed by analysts to determine food security: Availability (sufficient physical supply), Access (economic and physical ability to acquire food), Utilization (nutritional impact, preparation, and sanitation), and Stability (continuous, uninterrupted supply).

Food Desert

An urban or rural geographic area where residents have limited access to affordable, good-quality, nutritious fresh food, often heavily correlated with high poverty rates and lack of personal transportation.

Food Value Chain

A framework formulated by Michael Porter (1985) encompassing the sequential activities required to deliver a product to market: Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales, and Service.

United States Food Waste Burden

Approximately $40\%$ of all food produced in the United States ($133\,\text{billion pounds}$ annually, valued at $161\,\text{billion dollars}$) is wasted, constituting $20\%$ of landfill weight and releasing potent methane gas.

Food Composition

The detailed scientific analysis, compilation, and profiling of the nutritional constituents present in foods, including macronutrients, micronutrients, water, and phytochemicals.

Proximate Analysis

A system of quantitative analysis that determines the gross composition of food components (total moisture, total protein by Kjeldahl nitrogen determination, total fat, crude fiber, nitrogen-free extracts, and mineral ash) without identifying specific molecular subcomponents.

Water Activity ($a_w$)

A measure of the unbound, free water available in a food matrix to support microbial growth and chemical reactions; most foodborne pathogenic microorganisms require an $a_w > 0.91$ to proliferate.

Bound Water

Water molecules that are chemically bound or hydrogen-bonded to food constituents, displaying restricted mobility and inability to act as a solvent or support microbial growth.

Paracelsus' Principle

The foundational principle of modern toxicology credited to Swiss physician Paracelsus stating: 'All substances are poisons: there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.'

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Nonpolar micronutrients (vitamins A, D, E, and K) that are absorbed along with dietary lipids, can be stored in the body's adipose tissue and liver, and present a higher risk of hypervitaminosis if consumed in excess.

Major Minerals vs. Trace Minerals

Inorganic dietary nutrients classified by required daily intake: major minerals (such as calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium) are needed in amounts $> 100\,\text{mg/day}$, while trace minerals (such as iron, zinc, iodine) are needed in amounts $< 100\,\text{mg/day}$.

Amino Acid Structure

The fundamental monomer of proteins, consisting of a central $\alpha$-carbon bonded to a hydrogen atom, a basic amino group ($-\text{NH}_2$), an acidic carboxyl group ($-\text{COOH}$), and a variable side chain ($\text{R}$) that determines its identity.

Protein Hydrolysis

The chemical or enzymatic cleavage of peptide bonds linking amino acids in a polypeptide chain through the insertion of a water molecule, reducing proteins into smaller peptides and free amino acids.

Protein Denaturation

The conformational disruption of a protein's secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures caused by external stresses (such as extreme temperature or pH) without breaking the covalent peptide bonds of the primary backbone.

Gluten

A visco-elastic protein complex formed when wheat flour storage proteins—gliadins (prolamins providing extensibility) and glutenins (glutelins forming disulfide-crosslinked strength)—are mixed and hydrated with water.

Limiting Amino Acid

The essential amino acid present in a dietary protein in the shortest supply relative to human physiological needs, thereby bottlenecking the maximal rate of protein synthesis.

Complementary Proteins

The dietary practice of combining two or more incomplete plant protein sources (such as rice and beans) so that the limiting amino acids of one food are supplied by the abundance in the other.

Supplementary Proteins

The enhancement of a protein-deficient or amino acid-limited vegetable dish by adding a small quantity of high-quality complete animal protein (such as macaroni and cheese or pork and beans).

Triglyceride

The primary lipid molecule in foods and adipose tissue, composed of a three-carbon glycerol backbone esterified to three fatty acid chains.

Saponification

The alkaline hydrolysis of fats and oils using a strong inorganic base (lye) to yield free glycerol and alkali metal salts of fatty acids (soap).

Simplesse™

A commercial fat replacer derived from microparticulated dairy and egg proteins that mimics the organoleptic mouthfeel of fat while providing only $1\text{--}2\,\text{kcal/g}$, though it cannot be used in high-heat frying.

Olestra (Olean™)

A synthetic zero-calorie fat substitute engineered by esterifying fatty acids onto a sucrose molecule; because of its bulky configuration, digestive lipases cannot hydrolyze it, but it impairs the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).

Polymorphism in Fats

The capacity of a solid fat (such as cocoa butter) to crystallize into multiple distinct crystal packing configurations (Forms I through VI) exhibiting differing melting points, stabilities, and physical properties.

Chocolate Tempering

A precise thermal processing procedure involving controlled heating to $45^\circ\text{C}$, cooling to $27^\circ\text{C}$, and reheating to $32^\circ\text{C}$ to encourage the formation of uniform, desirable Form V ($\beta$) cocoa butter crystals.

Chocolate Bloom

The visual defect characterized by a dull, whitish crystal film on the surface of chocolate resulting from thermal fluctuations that promote the polymorphic transition of Form V crystals to the more thermodynamically stable Form VI crystals.

Catalytic Hydrogenation

The industrial addition of hydrogen gas ($\text{H}_2$) across carbon-carbon double bonds in vegetable oils at elevated temperature and pressure using a metal catalyst (such as nickel or palladium), converting liquid oils into solid or semi-solid fats.

Trans Fatty Acids

Unsaturated fatty acids featuring trans-configured double bonds, generated as byproducts of partial hydrogenation, which raise circulating LDL ('bad') cholesterol, lower HDL, and heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Omega ($\Omega$) Numbering

A nutritional nomenclature system for unsaturated fatty acids where carbons are counted starting from the terminal methyl carbon ($\Omega$ end) up to the position of the first carbon-carbon double bond.