Moisture migration and control in multi-domain foods

Control of initial moisture content and moisture migration is critical to the quality and safety of multi-domain foods. Moisture loss or gain from one region or food component to another region will continuously occur in order to reach thermodynamic equilibrium with the surrounding food components and the environment. Two main factors influencing the amount and rate of moisture migration are water activity equilibrium (thermodynamics) and factors affecting the diffusion rate (dynamics of mass transfer). Adding an edible layer between domains, changing the water activity of the food ingredients, changing the effective diffusivity of the water, and changing the viscosity (molecular mobility) in the entrapped amorphous phases are several means to control water migration between domains in food systems.