Abstract
The effects of temperature on moisture transfer within a composite food consisting of a sponge cake (SC) separated from a high moisture content agar gel (AG) by an acetylated monoglyceride (AMG1 and AMG2) film were investigated through moisture content profile experiments. A diffusion model was successfully used to predict moisture transfer within various composite foods (AG/SC, AG/AMG1/SC, and AG/AMG2/SC). The barrier efficiencies of the two hydrophobic films studied were reduced by temperature increase due to activation of diffusivity and equilibrium water sorption. Despite the low melting point of highly acetylated monoglyceride films, their barrier efficiency appeared to be less sensitive to temperature than monoglyceride films with a lower degree of acetylation. Consequently, in poor storage temperature conditions, these latter monoglyceride films seemed to be more effective in enhancing the shelf-life of the composite food studied here.