Food materials adhesion: A review

Abstract

This article reviews the various theories of adhesion mechanisms and, more specifically, studies concerning foodstuffs adhesion to industrial equipment and packaging surfaces. Adhesion is governed by mechanical interlocking, wetting, electrostatic and chemical forces, and diffusion. Direct conclusions about the validity of one of these theories were seldom made in the empirical studies reviewed. The different food adhesion determination methods were detailed: direct observations, evaluations (weighting, UV absorbance, and adhesive loss), adhesion strength measurements, and indirect measurements via the wetting theory (tilted plane method, contact angle, and surface tension). The importance of proteins, product rheological properties, solid surface rugosity, and wetting phenomena in many adhesion cases is highlighted. Conclusions were made that fundamental mechanisms of food‐contact surfaces interactions still need to be investigated to improve understanding in the science of food materials.

Key words:

• food
• adhesion
• stickiness
• wettability
• packaging
• interactions