Effective thermal diffusivities of some protein gels.

One-dimensional unsteady heat conduction was studied on gels of soy protein (Tofu), gelatin, egg-albumin, milk casein and wheat gluten. These heterogeneous foodstuffs could be treated as homogeneous materials as for the unsteady heat conduction by using the “effective” thermal diffusivity. The effective thermal diffusivity of soy protein gel depended not only on its water content but also on its fat content. The effective thermal diffusivities of non-fat protein gels with the same water content differed among different kinds of proteins.