Food items are often perishable and have a limited shelf life. Legislation requiring a declaration of “Best before” date and the interest of the manufacturer to assure the quality of his products within the declared time makes a frm control of the adulterating reactions in the product highly desirable, A thorough knowledge of the aging mechanism allows the manufacturer to take proper actions to prevent rapid decay. Microcalorimetry is a very useful tool for the measurement of the degree of aging of a product and also for the elucidation of the aging mechanism. This can sometimes be a formidable task in such a complex matrix as a food product.

由于巨大仪器惯性原因能够破坏通过旋转流变仪得出的震荡测试，这与电机轴的周期性加速和减速造成的。在一台流变仪上，电机的扭矩输出是由所需克服仪器惯性的扭矩组成的且扭矩变形进行示例。扭矩惯性的增加与所施加的功率频率相关，通常在低粘度测试的样品中起到主导地位。配备独立传感器的旋转流变仪受惯性影响要小得多，主要因为样品扭矩是由电机扭矩单独决定的。

近年来已有越来越多利用微量热仪器研究食品相关课题发表，包含天然物的分离纯化、食品加工程序优化、食品添加剂、食品污染及毒性评估等。基于仪器的高灵敏度及能够量测活体生物生长代谢能量的优点，已有许多研究植物细胞、动物细胞或微生物（细菌、真菌、病毒等）相关文献发表在不同领域。本短文乃是基于生长代谢能量之量测，在食品加工上的应用简介。

Starches are natural products used most extensively as thickening agents in the food industry, but are also widely employed in the adhesives, paper coatings, wood, packaging, and pharmaceutical industries. A fundamental rheological measurement conducted routinely on starches is the evaluation of the gelatinization process. This is accomplished by measuring the viscosity of the starch suspension, while heating and cooling under specific testing conditions. The resultant curve, referred to as the pasting curve, yields important starch performance parameters, including the pasting temperature, peak viscosity, holding strength, and final viscosity.

近年来已有越来越多利用微量热仪器研究食品相关课题发表，包含天然物的分离纯化、食品加工程序优化、食品添加剂、食品污染及毒性评估等。基于仪器的高灵敏度及能够量测活体生物生长代谢能量的优点，已有许多研究植物细胞、动物细胞或微生物(细菌、真菌、病毒等)相关文献发表在不同领域。本短文乃是基于活体(微生物、动物及植物细胞等生长代谢能量之量测，拓展开来在食品加工上的应用简介。