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Food Science & Technology vocabulary · Quality Control and Analysis

Viscosity

Meaning in food science & technology, with examples

/vɪˈskɑsəti/nounCommon term

In food science & technology, viscosity means: A measure of how thick a liquid is and how strongly it resists flowing; honey has a high viscosity, while water has a low viscosity.

In Turkish: viskozite, akışkanlık direnci

How it is used

Measured with a viscometer or rheometer and given in pascal-seconds (Pa·s) or centipoise (cP). Important for sauces, yogurt and syrups, and for pump and pipe design. Many foods are non-Newtonian: ketchup, for example, flows more easily when it is shaken or pumped. The adjective is 'viscous'.

Example sentences

  1. If the viscosity of the sauce is too high, the filling machine cannot dose it accurately.

  2. Adding 0.2 percent xanthan gum clearly increased the viscosity of the dressing.

Common collocations

  • high viscosity
  • measure viscosity
  • apparent viscosity
  • viscosity profile
  • increase viscosity
  • textureThe way a food feels in the hand and mouth, such as hard, soft, crisp, chewy, smooth or creamy, which comes from its physical structure.
  • thickenerA substance that increases the viscosity of a liquid food, making sauces, soups, desserts and drinks thicker without greatly changing their other properties.
  • stabilizerA substance that keeps the physical state of a food stable, for example stopping ingredients from separating, settling or forming crystals during storage.
  • homogenizationA process that pushes a liquid such as milk through a narrow gap under high pressure, breaking fat globules into very small ones so that the cream does not separate.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Quality Control and Analysis

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