Food and Nutrition

1. Food and Nutrition Glossary Terms

2. Instructions: click on a letter and you will be directed to a page of words (with their definitions) beginning with that letter. To return to this page click the HOME button. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T Scont. U V W X Y Z

3. A HOME • Al dente: ‘firm to bite’ – a test for well cooked pasta. Where a small piece is bitten between the teeth to check it is firm but not hard. • Amino acids: the building blocks or basic units which join together to form proteins. • Anaemia: an illness where insufficient red blood cells cause paleness and tiredness. • Antioxidants: substances which prevent oxidation reactions happening, e.g. Vitamins C and E, carotene. • Ascorbic acid: another name for Vitamin C.

4. B HOME • Basal metabolic rate (BMR): the speed/intensity at which a person’s metabolism works when they are at rest. • Baste: spoon cooking liquid over food while it is cooking. • Boiling: moist heat method of cooking, where the food is immersed in boiling water. • Braising: moist heat cooking method, where large pieces of meat are cooked in a casserole with a sauce, e.g. topside steak.

5. C HOME • Calcium: mineral needed for strong bones and teeth. • Carbohydrate (CHO): a nutrient made up of single, double or longer chains of sugar molecules – usually used as an energy source in the body. • Carotene: an antioxidant. It can be converted in the body to Vitamin A. • Casserole: a dish used to cook several foods together – usually meat and vegetables in the oven. The resulting mixture of foods (like a stew) is also called a ‘casserole’ after the glass, metal or pottery dish it has been cooked in. • Casseroling: moist heat method of cooking meat using a casserole dish in the oven. • Cereals: seeds of grasses. Used to make flours and breakfast cereals. • Cholesterol: a waxy fat found in foods and produced in the liver. • Connective tissue: tissue which holds muscle fibres and organs together. • Curdle: to make into curds or congeal.

6. D HOME • Dehydration: loss of moisture or water from the body. It is dangerous because body reactions cannot occur without water. It can be a problem when small children experience diarrhoea and vomiting. • Diet: a pattern of eating. • Dietary fibre: food fibre found in the cell walls of plant foods. There are several types.

7. E HOME • Emulsifier: a substance which can hold oil and water solutions together, e.g. an egg yolk in mayonnaise. • Emulsion: a mixture of oil and water. • Energy: the kilojoule (kJ) content of food. • Enzyme: a protein molecule that catalyses body reactions. Often contains a vitamin in its structure. Enzymes in foods cause ripening and, eventually, decay. • Evaporated milk: milk that has been reduced to 60% of its original volume. • Extraction rate: expressed as a percentage, this gives an idea of how much of a wheat grain is present in flour. A 100% extraction rate means that all the grain is used.

8. F HOME • Fat: form of lipid which is solid at room temperature. • Fat-soluble: able to dissolve in fat. Vitamins A and D are fat-soluble vitamins. • Fatty acids: long carbon chains that join glycerol to make fats. • Fibre: a group of substances present in all plant cells. Some are partially digested, some not at all. • Folate (folic acid): a B-vitamin needed for the formation of red blood cells. • Food and Nutrition Guidelines: guidelines developed by the Ministry of Health to give New Zealanders advice on how to maintain a healthy diet. • Food source: food in which a nutrient is present.

9. G HOME • Glycemic index: a rating of foods based on their effect on raising blood glucose levels. • Glycogen: a polysaccharide made from carbohydrate that is not needed for immediate energy needs and is stored in the liver.

10. H HOME • Homongenisation: process by which fat particles are spread throughout milk. • Hydronisation: the addition of hydrogen to vegetable oils to form a semi-soft spread.

11. I HOME • Iodine: forms part of thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland (controls rate of activity of the body). • Iron: mineral needed as part of haemoglobin in red blood cells.

12. J HOME

13. K HOME • Kilojoules (kJ): a metric measurement of energy. One kilojoule equals 4.2 kilocalories (usually referred to as ‘calories’).

14. L HOME • Lecithin: substance in egg yolk which acts as an emulsifier. • Lipid: lipids can be fats (solid at room temperature, 20˚C) or oils (liquid at room temperature, 20˚C).

15. M HOME • Marinated: process by which meat or fish is soaked in a liquid that contains acid ingredients; this tenderises meat and coagulates fish protein. • Meal planning: a process by which the preparing and serving of meals is organised. • Metabolism: a name for the many chemical reactions that take place in the body. ‘Protein metabolism’ refers to the chemical reactions involving the production and use of protein in the body. • Micro-organisms: microscopic organisms which include bacteria, yeasts and moulds (fungi). • Milk powder: milk solids left after liquid milk has had all the water removed; reconstituted by adding water. • Minerals: elements such as calcium, needed in very small amounts in the body. • Mono-unsaturated: name for a fatty acid which has space for only one hydrogen atom.

16. N HOME • Nutrient-dense food: a food that contains all the six nutrient groups (protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and water). • Nutrients: basic building blocks of food which the body uses for growth and energy. There are six types of nutrients – protein, lipid, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and water. • Nutrition: study of nutrients and what they do in the body.

17. O HOME • Oils: lipids that are liquid at room temperature, 20˚C. • Oxidase: an enzyme which is present in cells and released when cells are cut or bruised. It destroys vitamin C.

18. P HOME • Pasteurisation: process by which bacteria in milk are killed to make the milk safer to drink. • Pathogens: micro-organisms which cause disease or illness. • Pectin: found in ripe fruit, acts as a setting agent (e.g. in jams). • Polyunsaturated: term for fatty acids which can receive more than one hydrogen atom. • Preservatives: substances added to foods to stop them decaying. • Process: a systematic, planned sequence of actions or techniques. A process in meal preparation is made up of at least three related techniques. • Protein: a nutrient made up of amino acids. Its main function in the body is for growth and maintenance.

19. Q HOME

20. R HOME • Rancid: description of fats which have oxidised and developed an ‘off’ flavour. • Rennet: a preparation containing the enzyme rennin, which causes milk to clot. • Retinol: vitamin A. • Roughage: ‘old’ term for food fibre found in plant proteins. • Roux method: one method of making a white sauce with a mixture of butter, flour and milk.

21. S HOME • Saturated: description of a lipid which has every bond available filled with hydrogen; usually found in animal foods. • Score: to ‘cut through’ the surface of food (e.g. fish before cooking). • Sedentary: ‘done sitting down’. Sedentary jobs include truck-driving and typing. • Simmer: maintain gentle bubbling just below boiling point. • Single sugars: single carbohydrate units, e.g. glucose, fructose. • Skim milk: milk with reduced fat content. • Smoke point: temperature at which a heated fat or oil begins to produce blue smoke. • Soya milk: ‘milk’ from soya beans, contains polyunsaturated fat. • Standing time: the time in which microwaved goods stand after cooking so cooking can continue.

22. Scontinued… HOME • Starch: a carbohydrate made up of many glucose molecules. • Starches: a type of polysaccharide. • Stewing: a moist heat method of cooking meat in a pot. • Structure: the form of something; its shape or construction. • Sugars: simple carbohydrates containing only one or two sugar units. • Sweetened condensed milk: milk reduced to 30% of its original volume and then has sugar added; used mainly for baking purposes.

23. T HOME • Technique: a simple skill used in the preparation of food e.g. peel or scrape, measure, slice, chop, dice, mix, puree, fold, season, whip, melt etc. • Texture: the consistency or ‘feel’ of something – the way food ‘feels’ in the mouth. • Time plan: a plan, sometimes written, giving the order of tasks required to prepare and serve a meal.

24. U HOME • UHT milk: milk that has been ultra heat treated – heated rapidly at very high temperatures to sterilise it. • Unsaturated: mono- or polyunsaturated fatty acids have some spaces still available for hydrogen atoms. Unsaturated fats contain such fatty acids.

25. V HOME • Vegan: a person who does not eat any animal products. • Vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat. • Vitamins: different kinds of nutrients needed in small amounts in the body, often as part of the structure of enzymes, e.g. Vitamins A, C and D.

26. W HOME • Water-soluble: able to dissolve in water. Vitamin C and most of the B group vitamins are water-soluble. • Whey: the water liquid residue left when milk has formed curds. • Whole fish: the complete body of a fish, including fins, tail and head.

27. X HOME

28. Y HOME • Yeast: a living organism which breaks down sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide; used as a raising agent in bread-making.

29. Z HOME