En esta Monografia se trata el tema de la utilizacion del cloro y sus compuestos como medio de alcanzar los requisitos sanitarios que deben cumplir las aguas utilizadas en la industria alimentaria. Se explica la terminologia empleada en cloracion asi como la quimica del cloro en el agua y su comportamiento en funcion de Ph y temperatura. Se ejemplifican distintos sistemas de cloracion y finalmente se hace referencia a un posible programa de control de la cloracion en planta y a metodos analiticos para la evaluacion del cloro activo.

In its annual report to Congress, the Council on Environmental Quality predicted that water shortage and pollution in the 1980's will be as big an international issue as energy was in the 1970's. With the majority of the earth's water supply found in the ocean or locked in ice caps and glaciers, only 65% is available for human and agricultural use, and agriculture consumes 80% of that supply. Continuing population growth and widespread population further tax this resource. Emphasizing this concern, the United Nations sponsored Water Conferences, stressing the importance of better "water management." Improving and expanding irrigated agriculture in developing countries was recommended as the primary method of conserving water supplies. Technological advances in irrigation would not only conserve resources, but would also improve food production capabilities.

En esta Monografia se trata el tema de la utilizacion del cloro y sus compuestos como medio de alcanzar los requisitos sanitarios que deben cumplir las aguas utilizadas en la industria alimentaria. Se explica la terminologia empleada en cloracion asi como la quimica del cloro en el agua y su comportamiento en funcion de Ph y temperatura. Se ejemplifican distintos sistemas de cloracion y finalmente se hace referencia a un posible programa de control de la cloracion en planta y a metodos analiticos para la evaluacion del cloro activo.

Although maximum stability of natural products has been tied to minimum total moisture, research in the last 25 years has defined a narrow optimum water activity range for many natural foods. Water activity has a closer relationship to the chemical, physical, and biological properties of foods than moisture content; it may have a direct effect on chemical and enzymatic reactions and on microorganism proliferation. Fairly narrow water activity ranges may cause changes in texture, color, flavor, aroma, stability, and acceptability of both processed and raw food products. Most applied work in this field has been pioneered by "water activists" who have used their own tools and methods. Preparation of moisture sorption isotherms will be facilitated by development of automatic, precise, rapid, and convenient techniques to determine water activity and absolute moisture content.

Controlling moisture content in food, by either eliminating water content or binding it so that food is stable to both microbial or chemical deterioration, has been practiced for more than 3,000 years. The FDA has included the concept of water activity in its good manufacturing practices (GMP). Water activity is defined as the vapor pressure of water in food divided by vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature. Water activity controls chemical reaction rates and the order of chemical and kinetic reactions in foods, on local phase rates, and on the lipid reaction rate. It is impossible, with the present state of the art, to predict precise shelf life because of the variability of food systems. However, mathematical models can be constructed, based on data collected at high humidity and high temperature conditions, to predict shelf life under normal storage conditions.