Chemistry of Food & Cooking: Reflection 

 

BY: Bella Conradi
 

1. How does the ingredient you experimented with affect the food’s overall characteristics? Be specific and discuss the chemical structure of the ingredient and the chemical structures of the aspects of the food the chosen ingredient interacted with as part of your answer!

 

In my project, I observed the effects of sugar content in the form of sucrose on agar gel in the form of coffee jelly, a popular treat in Japan. Agar is an extractive from red algae or seaweed. It acts similarly to gelatin, its’ collagen-made neighbor, and is widely regarded as an extremely effective and healthy vegan substitute. Because agar is a polysaccharide, its microstructure can be manipulated by sugar concentration. In the studies I read, it does not appear to matter which kinds of sugar are used, but I used sucrose (represented as table sugar). In my experiments I discovered very similar results to this study, which explained how agar’s microstructure is affected by sugar, determining that bond strength and viscosity were altered. In my own studies, I assessed sucrose’s effect on agar gels bonding properties by designing a compression test, measuring the hydroxyl bond breakage and compression percent rate of each sample, as well as a blind taste test for flavor profiling. More detail on these and their representative figures are shown in the final Recipe Card. 

 

I found that the higher the sugar concentration was, the firmer, or rather the stronger the agar bonds were in the jelly. Agar is a polysaccharide (a long chain of sugars), divided into two fractions: agarose and agaropectin. This molecule is made of an array of alternating sugars, such as D-galactose, ß-1,3-linked, and more. An agar molecule’s microstructure is impacted by and interacts with other sugars in a mixture. Sucrose, when dissolved in a fluid, will generally make the fluid into a thicker substance. Because this is true in the coffee jelly base, adding more sugar made the jelly thicker and therefore stronger in its bonding. But let’s elaborate on that—Agar chains exist as random coils in a hot hydro-solution, erratically moving around. When temperature decreases (AKA: when movement in the form of kinetic energy is decreased), these coils undergo a coil-helix transition, which means that the agar chains can begin to form structures called helices which are stabilized by hydrogen bonds. The reliance on hydrogen bonds means that the consequence of more sucrose is added, the thicker the water substance becomes, making stronger bonding and firmer texture, due to tighter bonds in the thicker hydro-substances. This means there is less room for the agar chains to move around in the thickness. This is shown in both of the experiments I created relating to the subject. Very proud moment. In summary, the more sugar is added, the firmer and stronger the agar bonds in the gel will be.

 

2. In what way(s) are cooking and doing science similar and in what way(s) are they different? How are a cook and a food scientist similar or different?

 

Chemistry and food are deeply linked. The simple Maillard reaction, which you see as the browning on bread and cookies, would not be possible without science, largely as chemical reactions. A chef is a scientist in their own way. There may be clinical trials to determine the right tastes and textures in a loaf of bread; similar to how experiments are repeated many times in the field of scientific experimentation for accurate data. The cook is constantly involved with chemical reactions whether they know it or not, from the carbonation in baking soda to the proteins in flour. There are even formulas that mimic mathematical facts, like how salt is a complimentary taste to savory foods. Even salt itself is a miracle of chemicals, sodium chloride (which, if in different circumstances, could be explosive). For my own recipe, I acted as both a chemist and a chef. This seems natural to me; I’ve always loved cooking and science. For me, the two go hand-in-hand.

 

The real way that cooking and the pursuit of science are truly different is man-made distinctions in terms of career. For one thing, cooking is a lot more hands-on than analyzing data in a lab after an experiment, because cooking is a product needed to sustain life every single day. Science brings us a perspective to our lives and where they take place in the long-term. It’s data driven, constantly calculating, and takes a lot of work to make meaning of. People rely on food every day at least once, but people rely on science for their lives in a less controlled manner. We are products of science, just as everything around us is, but would that mean there is no distinction between any human activity and science? In this instance, I would hypothesize that “doing science” means being a wildlife biologist or a blood analyzer in the lab at the hospital: those who gather data to contribute to the world. By this, the major difference between the science and cooking is that we generally rely on food every couple of hours, but we rely on science for our lives over time and throughout history. It is the data gathered that tells us which foods are good for us. Science will be remembered for ages due to its relevance throughout the time of humanity’s existence on Earth. 

 

But in the same respects, I would go as far as to say almost everything that anyone does is a pursuit of science. The riding of the bike, the writing on the paper, the minds that we carry in the midst of the world around us; it’s all science. And that is why science is so beautiful, science is also an art. One would not feel so much meaning like I do, compressing a coffee jelly sample on a scale to measure what happens, if science were just a data-driven pursuit. It isn’t that boring. It’s life, it’s meaning. Science is also a mode of pleasure, meaning that it adds not only to the facts of, but the canvas, the tapestry of life on Earth. Science exists because there is drive in the human spirit to know and learn more and more about life and all of its phenomena. Therefore, science is part of the spiritual act that humanity loves so much.

 

*NOTE: This last part is inspired by Jessica, as it appears she’s coined the term “tapestry of life on Earth.” This could be mistaken, but seeing as we just did a philosophy project, I couldn’t leave it out of my chemistry. The two are just so beautiful that art and science cannot be seen as opposites in my life! Both make it better, both are the essence of life. Thank you for reading.

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