Food Science Word Search

The science words behind the kitchen and the food plant: why bread browns, milk sours and jam sets.

Name Date

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0 of 20 words found

ACASPNBFLAVORUR

OXIDATIONPAROMA

HRYRSTWSENSORYR

JABETEMULSIONEP

QBFNEXKLDJASHCT

PCEZUTAEEVRHOSU

ESRYRURSHFHEMWA

CRMMIRGTYWELOOD

TYEEZELADTSFGSD

IRNSEGORRNDLEYI

NDTEDLNCANIINET

XHCHEUXHTNXFIAI

TVCULTURETREZSV

LSMIEEMICROBETE

EGUBMNERPROTEIN

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

EmulsionEMULSION
PectinPECTIN
StarchSTARCH
GlutenGLUTEN
ProteinPROTEIN
OxidationOXIDATION
EnzymeENZYME
FermentFERMENT
YeastYEAST
MicrobeMICROBE
CultureCULTURE
PasteurizePASTEURIZE
DehydrateDEHYDRATE
Shelf lifeSHELF LIFE
HomogenizeHOMOGENIZE
AdditiveADDITIVE
SensorySENSORY
FlavorFLAVOR
AromaAROMA
TextureTEXTURE

20 words from the Food Science Key Terms list.

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Answer key: Food Science Word Search

ACASPNBFLAVORUR

OXIDATIONPAROMA

HRYRSTWSENSORYR

JABETEMULSIONEP

QBFNEXKLDJASHCT

PCEZUTAEEVRHOSU

ESRYRURSHFHEMWA

CRMMIRGTYWELOOD

TYEEZELADTSFGSD

IRNSEGORRNDLEYI

NDTEDLNCANIINET

XHCHEUXHTNXFIAI

TVCULTURETREZSV

LSMIEEMICROBETE

EGUBMNERPROTEIN

EMULSION, PECTIN, STARCH, GLUTEN, PROTEIN, OXIDATION, ENZYME, FERMENT, YEAST, MICROBE, CULTURE, PASTEURIZE, DEHYDRATE, SHELF LIFE, HOMOGENIZE, ADDITIVE, SENSORY, FLAVOR, AROMA, TEXTURE

Next step Find the reaction types and their signs Type in the terms from your own food lab

All 121 words

Food Chemistry 27

Acidity How acid a food is; the more of it, the lower the number on the pH scale.
Anthocyanin A water-soluble plant pigment that looks red, purple or blue depending on pH.
Antioxidant A compound, such as vitamin C, that slows the damage oxygen does to food.
Browning Food turning brown through chemical reactions inside it.
Capsaicin The compound in chili peppers that makes them taste hot.
Caramelization The browning of sugar under heat, used in cooking for its flavor and color.
Casein The family of proteins that makes up about four fifths of the protein in cow's milk.
Coagulate To turn from a liquid into a soft solid, as milk does in cheesemaking.
Colloid A mixture with tiny, insoluble particles of one substance spread through another.
Crystallize To form a solid whose atoms or molecules sit in a regular, repeating pattern.
Curd The soft solid that separates when milk is soured or treated with rennet.
Denature To make a protein lose its folded shape, as heat or a strong acid can.
Emulsifier A substance, such as lecithin, that lets oil and water stay mixed.

Show all 121 words (108 more)

Food Chemistry, continued

Emulsion A mixture of two liquids that normally will not blend, such as oil and water.
Enzyme A biological catalyst; some kinds brown an apple after it is cut.
Foam A material of gas pockets, each walled off from the next by a thin film.
Gelatin A translucent, flavorless ingredient made from collagen.
Gluten The stretchy network that forms in wheat flour when it is wetted and kneaded.
Lecithin A fatty substance of egg yolk and soybeans that attracts both water and fats.
Maillard The name of the reaction of amino acids with sugars that gives browned food its flavor.
Oxidation The loss of electrons; in food, a reaction that turns fats stale.
Pectin A polymer found in land plants' cell walls; it makes jams and jellies set.
Protein A large molecule built of amino acids; heat and acid change its shape.
Rancid Describes a fat or oil that air, light or moisture has broken down, so it smells or tastes bad.
Starch Chains of glucose that green plants store; in warm water it makes a thickening paste.
Tannin A compound that binds to proteins and gives unripe fruit its dry, puckering feel.
Whey The liquid left after milk has curdled and been strained.

Fermentation and Food Microbes 25

Acetic acid CH3COOH, the active component of vinegar.
Brine Water with a high concentration of salt dissolved in it.
Cheese A dairy food made by curdling milk.
Culture A batch of chosen microorganisms grown to be added to milk or another food.
Ferment To let microorganisms turn the carbohydrates of a food into acids or alcohol.
Kefir A fermented milk drink made by adding small grains that hold a mixed culture.
Kimchi A Korean dish of salted, fermented vegetables, most often cabbage or radish.
Koji A filamentous fungus grown on grain, the starting point of several Japanese fermented foods.
Lactic acid C3H6O3, formed when bacteria ferment the sugars of milk or cabbage.
Lactobacillus A genus of rod-shaped bacteria; one of its species is a main yogurt maker.
Leaven A substance that makes gas bubbles in dough or batter, so that it lightens and softens.
Microbe An organism too small to see without a microscope, as one cell or a colony.
Miso A thick Japanese seasoning paste made by fermenting soybeans with salt.
Mold A fungus whose spores give it a dusty, colored look; on food it can mean spoilage.
Probiotic A live microorganism intended to support the health of the one who takes it in.
Rennet A set of enzymes from the stomachs of ruminant mammals that curdles milk.
Sauerkraut Finely cut cabbage soured by bacteria; the name is German for sour cabbage.
Sourdough A leavening of naturally occurring yeast and bacteria, and the bread baked with it.
Soy sauce A salty liquid condiment of Chinese origin, made from fermented soybeans and roasted grain.
Spoilage The process that makes a food unfit to eat, caused by bacteria and fungi.
Starter A preparation, sometimes called a mother, added to a food to begin its fermentation.
Tempeh An Indonesian food: soybeans bound into a cake by a fungus.
Vinegar A sour liquid made when bacteria turn the alcohol of a fermented liquid into acid.
Yeast A fungus that grows as single cells; one kind makes bread rise.
Yogurt Milk fermented by bacteria; the acid they make acts on the milk protein and thickens it.

Food Preservation 23

Airtight Describes a seal that stops air and other gases from passing.
Aseptic Describes filling a heat-treated liquid into a germ-free container in germ-free conditions.
Canning Processing food and sealing it in a jar or a metal container so that it keeps for a year or more.
Curing Preserving and flavoring meat, fish or vegetables with salt, which draws water out.
Dehydrate To take the water out of a food so that bacteria and molds cannot grow.
Freeze drying Removing water from frozen food under low pressure, so the ice turns straight to vapor.
Freezer burn Leathery, grayish-brown spots on frozen food that air has reached.
Freezing Turning the moisture left in food to ice, which slows decomposition.
Irradiation Exposing food to ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, to make it last longer.
Moisture Water present in something, often in small amounts.
Nitrite The ion NO2-; with salt and sugar it is one of the things added to cure meat.
Pasteurize To treat a food such as milk with mild heat, below boiling, so that it keeps longer.
Pickling Preserving food in vinegar, or by letting it ferment in salty water.
Preservative A substance added to a product to stop microbes or chemical changes from breaking it down.
Refrigerate To cool food below the temperature around it, which slows the growth of microorganisms.
Retort With pouch, a package of plastic and metal foil for sterile food.
Salting Preserving food with dry edible salt, one of the oldest methods.
Shelf life The length of time a product can be stored before it is unfit to use or sell.
Smoking Flavoring, browning or preserving food in the fumes of smoldering wood.
Sterilize To remove, kill or deactivate every form of life in or on something.
Sugaring Preserving food with sugar, as jam making does to stop bacteria growing back.
Sulfite A compound with the ion SO3 2-; it occurs naturally in some foods and is added to others.
Vacuum With packing, a method that takes the air out of a package before it is closed.

Food Processing and Additives 21

Additive Anything put into a food on purpose to keep it or to improve its taste or look.
Batch A set amount of product made in one run.
Centrifuge A machine that spins a fluid fast to separate its parts, such as cream from milk.
Coloring A dye or pigment added to give a food or drink its color.
Concentrate To take most of the water out of a liquid such as fruit juice; also the product.
Enrich To add back nutrients that a food lost when it was processed.
Evaporate To change from a liquid into a gas at the surface.
Extrusion Forcing a soft mix through a shaped opening and cutting it to size.
Filtration Separating solids from a fluid by passing the mixture through a medium only the fluid can cross.
Flavoring An additive that improves the taste or the smell of a food.
Formulation Putting components together in the right relationships, as a formula sets out.
Fortify To add vitamins or trace elements to a food, including ones it never held.
Homogenize To make the fat globules of milk small and spread them evenly through it.
Ingredient One of the substances that go into a food product.
Milling Breaking a solid, such as grain, into smaller pieces by grinding or crushing.
Pilot plant A small production system built to learn about a process before a full-scale one.
Processing Turning farm products into food, or one form of food into another.
Spray drying Turning a liquid into powder by sending a mist of it through hot gas.
Stabilizer An additive that helps a food keep its structure.
Sweetener An additive that gives sweetness; the artificial kinds carry far less food energy than sugar.
Thickener A substance that makes a liquid more viscous without changing much else about it.

Flavor and Sensory Science 25

Aftertaste What is sensed just after a food or drink has left the mouth.
Aroma The smell of a food or drink.
Astringent Describes the dry, puckering feel that tannins give the mouth.
Bitter The basic taste of coffee and unsweetened cocoa, one of the most sensitive.
Blind test A tasting in which people are not told which product is which.
Chewy Describes a food that keeps pushing back, springily, while it is chewed.
Crisp Describes a hard food that breaks with a higher-pitched sound.
Crunch The lower-pitched sound of a hard food being chewed.
Flavor The overall impression of a food, built from taste, smell and feel in the mouth.
Hedonic Describes the scale, usually of 9 levels, on which people mark how much they like a product.
Olfaction The sense of smell.
Palate The roof of the mouth, which separates it from the nasal cavity.
Panel A group of human assessors on whom a product is tried out.
Pungent Describes the hot, spicy sensation of foods such as chili peppers.
Receptor A structure of a cell that responds to certain molecules, as those of the tongue do to food.
Salty The basic taste sensed when alkali metal ions, such as sodium, reach the tongue.
Sensory To do with the senses; this kind of analysis uses people to judge a product.
Sour The basic taste sensed when hydrogen ions, as from an acid, reach the tongue.
Sweet The basic taste produced by sugars and by substances that mimic them.
Taste bud A cluster of sensing cells, found around the small bumps of the tongue.
Tender Describes a food that is easy to chew, the opposite of hard.
Texture The physical feel of a food in the mouth, also called mouthfeel.
Threshold The weakest stimulus that a person can sense.
Umami Savoriness, the basic taste typical of broths and cooked meats.
Viscosity How strongly a fluid resists flowing.

How it works

Chemistry, microbes and machinery meet in a food science course, and this food science word search opens on 20 words from all three: Emulsion and Gluten, Ferment and Yeast, Pasteurize and Homogenize. Nutrients and food groups are on the nutrition word search.

Read the full guide

From the lab bench to the factory

Under Start from a list, Food Chemistry has 27 words, such as Maillard, Caramelization, Casein and Anthocyanin. Fermentation and Food Microbes has 25: Sourdough, Kefir, Miso, Rennet, Koji. Food Processing and Additives has 21, with Extrusion, Fortify, Stabilizer and Spray drying.

Keeping food and tasting it

Food Preservation has 23 words, from Canning and Curing to Irradiation and Freezer burn. Flavor and Sensory Science has 25 for a tasting lesson: the basic tastes, then Astringent, Aftertaste, Hedonic and Blind test.

Shelf life, Freeze drying, Taste bud and 7 more two-word entries hide closed up: SHELFLIFE.

Questions and answers

What is food science?

Food science studies what foods are made of, why they deteriorate and how they are processed and preserved. It draws on chemistry, physics, microbiology, biochemistry and engineering, and food chemistry and food technology are two of its branches.

Why does food turn brown when it is cooked?

One cause is the Maillard reaction: amino acids react with reducing sugars and make the compounds that flavor seared steak, bread and toasted marshmallows. It typically runs fast from around 140 to 165 °C. Caramelization, the browning of sugar alone, is a separate process.

What is the difference between pasteurization and sterilization?

Pasteurization treats a packaged food with mild heat, usually under 100 °C (212 °F), to remove pathogens and extend shelf life; most bacterial spores survive it. Sterilization removes, kills or deactivates every form of life, spores included.

What is an emulsion in food?

A mixture of two liquids that normally do not blend, one spread through the other. In milk, fat and water form an emulsion; vinaigrette and mayonnaise are two more. An emulsifier such as lecithin lets the oil and water stay mixed.

Can I print the food science word search with answers?

Yes. The printout is two pages on Letter or A4, the puzzle and then its answer key. Show clues, not words swaps each word for its meaning, so Emulsion reads "A mixture of two liquids that normally will not blend, such as oil and water."

All 121 words

Food Chemistry 27

Food Chemistry, continued

Fermentation and Food Microbes 25

Food Preservation 23

Food Processing and Additives 21

Flavor and Sensory Science 25

How it works

From the lab bench to the factory

Keeping food and tasting it

Questions and answers

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