DSC Study of the Thermophysical Properties of Aqueous Liquid and Semi‐Liquid Foodstuffs at Freezing Temperatures

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the thermophysical properties and phenomena occurring in aqueous liquid and semi‐liquid foodstuffs at freezing temperatures. Investigations were carried out with fruit juice concentrates, sauces, soups and spinach purée. The phase transitions such as glass transition, irruptive recrys‐talization (devitrification), ante‐melting transition and melting are faithfully reflected by DSC curves. Besides depending on the temperature, these phenomena depend primarily on the mass fraction of water, and the fraction of other components in the dispersion system. The temperatures of phase transitions (solidification and melting), the latent heat of fusion (ΔH) and specific heat also depend on the same factors.