Gastrophysics (gastronomical physics) is an emerging interdisciplinary science that employs principles from

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

to attain a fundamental understanding of the worlds of

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

and

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

. Gastrophysical topics of interest include investigations of the raw materials of food, the effects of food preparation, and quantitative aspects of the physical basis for food quality, flavour, appreciation and absorption in the human body.

Definition and aim

Gastrophysics is a scientific discipline that focuses on investigations of aspects of

and

that relates to phenomena, which can be described and explained in a frame of

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

, and associated sciences. The inspiration for gastrophysics is gastronomy and cooking. Gastrophysical studies has a gastronomic observation as its starting point, and aims at unravelling the scientific nature of the observations on many different macroscopic and microscopic scales, including explaining physical and chemical aspects of the raw materials, of their transformations during the preparation of food, as well as of the

sensory Sensory may refer to: Biology * Sensory ecology, how organisms obtain information about their environment * Sensory neuron, nerve cell responsible for transmitting information about external stimuli * Sensory perception, the process of acquiri ...

response while eating. The chemical and physical composition, as well as properties of raw food materials, are important for the transformations that occur in the food during preparation (heating, cooling, mixing, beating,

fermenting Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduced ...

, salting,

drying Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be consider ...

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

souring Souring is a food preparation technique that causes a physical and chemical change in food by exposing it to an acid. This acid can be added explicitly (e.g., vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, etc.), or can be produced within the food itself by a ...

etc.). Flavour (

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

and smell),

mouthfeel Mouthfeel refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item. Mouthfeel i ...

chemesthesis Chemesthesis is the detection of potentially harmful chemicals by the skin and mucous membranes. Chemesthetic sensations arise when chemical compounds activate Sensory receptor, receptors associated with other senses that mediate pain, touch, and T ...

astringency An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by th ...

are all determinants for the sensory evaluation of food, and these characteristics are also related to the chemical properties and the physical texture of the food, and to how the food is transformed in the mouth. Gastrophysics deals with each of these components and aims at uncovering their mutual relations, i.e. how the sensory input relates to the material composition and properties of food, and the absorption in the human body. Gastrophysics is a scientifically inspired approach to gastronomy, but it is a science in its own right, and not a discipline to service chefs in creating new dishes. Gastrophysics focuses on gaining fundamental scientific insight to gastronomy and understanding general phenomena, without removing any of the craft, creativity, and art characteristics of cooking. The relation between gastrophysics and gastronomy can be seen as analogous to the relation between

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

Astronomers An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observ ...

observe planets and stars, and describe where they are and how they move.

Astrophysicists The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysics, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or techno ...

explain why the planets and stars are where they are, and how they got there. In the same way, gastrophysics aims to explain the general scientific nature of gastronomy.

Methodology

Whereas gastrophysics is a relatively new discipline within the physical sciences, the foundation for exploring the kind of soft matter that food is, is already well established in other areas of modern physics. The methodology of gastrophysics greatly overlaps with e.g. (molecular)

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

soft matter physics Soft matter or soft condensed matter is a type of matter that can be deformed or structurally altered by thermal or mechanical stress which is of similar magnitude to thermal fluctuations. The science of soft matter is a subfield of condensed ma ...

material physics Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials scien ...

analytical chemistry Analytical skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute t ...

etc. This holds for experimental, theoretical and phenomenological approaches. Gastrophysics leans on state-of-art technologies both experimentally and computationally.

History

It is unknown when the term gastrophysics was first coined, but it appears to have been independently proposed as a physics approach to gastronomy in the labs of the physicist

Nicholas Kurti Nicholas Kurti, () (14 May 1908 – 24 November 1998) was a Hungarian-born British physicist who lived in Oxford, UK, for most of his life. Career Born in Budapest, Kurti went to high school at the Minta Gymnasium, but due to anti-Jewish law ...

Peter Barham Peter Barham (born 1950) is emeritus professor of physics at the University of Bristol. He was visiting professor of Molecular Gastronomy at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Early life Barham was born in 1950. He received his BSc from the ...

, and . In order to conceptualise the term "gastrophysics", the first international symposium on the topic—"The emerging science of gastrophysics"—was held in Copenhagen in 2012, bringing together key actors. One conclusion of the symposium was that gastrophysics could significantly impact gastronomy and tomorrow's food sciences, and how both develop in the 21st century. In addition to the aforementioned Nicholas Kurti, Peter Barham, and Ole G. Mouritsen, other popular gastrophysicists include

Charles Spence Charles Spence is an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford. He is the head of the Crossmodal Research group which specializes in the research about the integration of information across different sensory modalities. He also teac ...

, Mathias Porsmose Clausen and Eneko Axpe.https://www.corriere.it/cook/news/cards/50-next-ecco-leader-futuro-mondo-gastronomia/eneko-axpe-usapaesi-baschi-spagna.shtml

Definition and aim

Methodology

History

References

Further reading