Rehydration Modeling of Food Particulates by Using Principles of Water Transport in Porous Media

Water - imbibition theory has been shown to have a multidisciplinary validity and has applicability in modeling of the rehydration of dried porous food. Basic theory of fl ow in porous media has been widely used in several domains and promoted interdisciplinary research, and is also used as a bridge between food science and soil physics. Analogous to a food - sorption isotherm, the water - characteristic curve of a porous medium describes the functional relationship between water content and matric potential under equilibrium conditions. The use of porous - media theory for modeling of food rehydration requires employment of a known characteristic curve, the determination of which is time - consuming and cumbersome. Using water -characteristic curves employed in soil physics to bridge between sorption isotherms commonly used in food science could furnish a novel and integrated approach necessary to overcome some of the immense complexity that has hampered previous modeling attempts and to open new avenues for studying and optimizing food rehydration.