This title focuses on the comprehension of the properties of water in foods, enriched by the approaches from polymer and materials sciences, and by the advances of analytical techniques. The International Symposium on the Properties of Water (ISOPOW) promotes the exchange of knowledge between scientists involved in the study of food materials and scientists interested in water from a more basic point of view and the dialogue between academic and industrial scientists/technologists. This comprehensive book covers the topics presented at the 10th ISOPOW held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2007, including water dynamics in various systems, the role of water in functional food and nano-structured biomaterials.

Special features include:

• Latest findings in the properties of water in food, pharmaceutical and biological systems
• Coverage of the 10th International Symposium on the Properties of Water (ISOPOW)
• Includes water dynamics, water in foods stability, and water in micro and nano-structured food and biomaterials
• Reflects the vast array of research and applications of water world wide

DAVID S. REID, Ph.D., is a professor and chemist in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis, and is President of the Central Committee of the International Symposium on the Properties of Water (ISOPOW), a non-profit scientific organization whose activities aim at progressing the understanding of the properties of water in food and related biological systems, and the exploitation of this understanding in improved raw materials, products and processes in the food and related industries.

TANABOON SAJJAANANTAKUL, Ph.D., is a food chemist and Head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Kasetsart University, Thailand, and is Chair of the ISOPOW Local Organizing Committee for ISOPOW 10 in Bangkok, Thailand.

PETER LILLFORD, Ph.D., is a physical chemist, formally in industry, but now working with the Universities of Birmingham and York in the UK, and as a Consultant to the Food Futures Flagship in CSIRO, Australia. He is a former President of ISOPOW, and a member of the Central Committee.

SANGUANSRI CHAROENREIN, Ph.D., is an associate professor of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Kasetsart University, Thailand, and is a member of the ISOPOW Local Organizing Committee for ISOPOW 10. She has over ten years experience in the food, beverage and sugar industries.