A new non-Fickian diffusion model for water migration in starchy food during cooking

When a starchy food such as a rice grain or a strand of noodle is boiled, a high moisture region is generated at the surface spreading inward, producing a low moisture core. The characteristic features of the change of moisture profile were recently observed by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the profile cannot be described by any existing mathematical model based on the principle that water molecules are driven by the gradient of moisture content. In this paper, a new mathematical model is proposed using a new concept, water demand (WD). In this model, migration of water is driven by the gradient of WD, which is defined as the difference between the ceiling moisture content and the existing moisture content. This model is demonstrated to have a potential to describe the characteristic features of the change of moisture profile in starchy food during boiling. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.