Database of physical properties of agro-food materials

The paper describes the EU database of physical properties of agro-food materials available on-line at http://www.nelfood.com. This database contains (at the time of writing) over 11,000 bibliographic records. About 16% of these records have numerical tables and equations attached to them. The novel and unique feature of the database is that it specifies both the measurement methods and the descriptions of foods. Two four-point scales indicate the quality of this specification (1–4 for method, A–D for food definition). There are five main categories of data on physical properties of agro-food materials: thermal, mechanical (rheological and textural), electrical, diffusional and optical (spectral and colour). The data are available in the form of tables and equations, given as functions of independent variables such as temperature, pressure, composition, etc. The database is a valuable resource for food engineers and scientists. The paper discusses the changing needs of the users of the database and the strategy for meeting these needs, including the following elements: (i) developing models/software for predicting the physical properties of foods from their chemical composition and structure (emulating the success of software such as COSTHERM for the thermal properties); (ii) methods of Artificial Intelligence, such as Case Based Reasoning and (iii) providing interfaces between the physics/engineering database and models dealing more directly with the quality and safety of foods. Last but not least, it is important to nurture the network of experts who provide knowledge in support of the database. This is possible within the Food Properties Awareness Club run under the auspices of the National Engineering Laboratory, UK.