FOOD PREPARATION
Changes that happen during food preparation
1. Food changes colour
 Red meat- turns brown from
red when stored
 Some fruits like banana and
apples go brown
2. Food loses some of its nutritional
value
 Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
 Vitamin A (Retinol)
 Vitamin B2
3. Food partially tenderised
 By pounding and scoring
(cutting slits on surface of piece
of meat)
 Using meat tenderiser powders
 Marinating in vinegar or alcohol
4. Food increases in size
 Dried fruit or pulses soaked in
water
 Bread dough
 Whipped egg white
5. Food becomes thicker
 Mayonnaise
 Whipped cream
Reasons
-the oxymyoglobin that makes it red changes to
metmyoglobin that turns it brown, when meat
is stored in a place where little oxygen is
available.
-the process is called oxidation and results
when enzymes in the fruit react with oxygen in
the air, causing the surface to turn brown.
-exposure to air causes oxidation (cutting green
leafy vegetables thinly can quicken oxidation).
This changes chemical structure so that it
cannot be used by the body.
Vitamin C is water soluble and can be lost when
dissolved in water (prolonged soaking and
washing).
-Destroyed by exposure to light
-Destroyed by exposure to light
-pounding reduces the length of muscle fibres
-Tenderising powders have enzymes that
partially digest meat protein
-marinating partially coagulates the meat
protein
-water passes into the fruit and pulses through
osmosis. The water causes the cells inside to
swell, thus making the fruit or pulse larger.
Yeast in the dough produces carbondioxide gas,
which stretches the gluten and makes the
dough to rise.
-the protein albumin can stretch and hold up to
7 times its own volume of air.
-Egg yolk contains lecithin which emulsifies
(when two liquids which cannot dissolve in
each other are forced to combine) the oil and
vinegar and prevents them from separating
out. The mixture becomes thickened as the
lecithin starts to work.
-as cream is whipped, the fat globules it
contains start to coalesce (come together to

6. Food curdles (separate into lumps or
curds)
 Cake mixtures
 Milk
7. Food absorbs other substances
 Odours
 Water
Changes that happen food during cooking
1. Mixture enlarges (rises)
 Bread, cakes, scones
2. Food shrinks or loses bulk
 Meat
 Leafy vegetables
3. Food increases in size
 Pasta, rice
4. Food becomes firmer (sets)
 Egg protein
 Gelatine
5. Food changes colour
 Meat goes brown
form a whole or stick together), until the cream
becomes thick.
-If egg is added too quickly, the lecithin in the
yolk does not have time to stabilise the fat and
sugar, so the fat curdles (separates)
-the protein caseinogen will coagulate and
curdle if acid is added
-odours are absorbed by eggs through their
porous shells and fat- containing foods e.g.
butter
-water is absorbed by some dried foods e.g.
coffee, because they are hygroscopic (attract
water from the atmosphere).
Reasons
Air is trapped during mixing, or gas is produced
by chemical raising agents, or steam is
produced from water in the mixture. Air, gas
and steam, all expand with heat and push up
the mixture during cooking.
-heat makes the protein molecules in meat
alter their structure so that they become
shorter. The connective tissues becomes
shorter and thicker so that the meat shrinks.
-boiling breaks down the cell structure in the
leaves, so they become less bulky.
-these foods contain tiny granules of starch. As
they are heated in water, the granules absorb
water and swell. Some of them release their
starch as heating increases.
-Protein molecules in the white and yolk start
to coagulate (become firmer) at about 60-70
degrees celcius respectively. As cooking
continues, the whole egg sets.
-gelatine absorbs water and swells. When
heated, the gelatine dissolves to form a clear
liquid which sets when cooled.
Oxymyoglobin in uncooked meat makes it red.
During cooking it changes to haemochrome
which is brown.
  Green leafy vegetables
 Red/blue fruits and vegetables
 Sugar
6. Food loses some of its nutritional
value
 Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
 Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin
B2 (riboflavin)
7. Food becomes tender when cooked
 Meat
 Rice, pulses, pasta, vegetables,
fruits
8. Food becomes thicker
 Cornflour and roux sauces
-Chlorophyll in green vegetables become bright
green when the vegetable is first cooked. If
overcooked, it changes to olive green/brown.
-anthocyanins (water-soluble flavonoids)red/
blue fruits are purple at PH7 (neutral), red at
less than PH7 (acid) and blue at more than PH7
( alkali). They are very water soluble.
-sugar crystals are white, but on exposure to
heat they gradually become golden brown due
to a change in sugar molecules, called
caramelisation.
-Vitamin C is destroyed by heat. The longer the
exposure to heat, the greater the destruction.
-these are both destroyed by exposure to heat.
-connective tissue becomes shorter and thicker.
Collagen is converted to gelatine in the
presence of moisture.
-water is absorbed into the starch granules.
These soften and swell as they absorb water.
Some starch escape from raptured granules
and dissolve.
-both contain starch granules. These soften and
swell as the y absorb water. Some starch
escapes from raptured granules and dissolves.