Water-holding properties have been well recognized by food technologists among !he diversity of functional properties attributed to milk protein products. In general , water-holding is accomplished by a complexity of interactions between water and milk proteins. Besides the term water-holding, synonyms such as water retention, imbibing and hydration have been used to describe this phenomenon. This paper provides a clearer understanding of this parameter by considering some fundamentals of both the molecular structure of milk proteins and the physical in terrelationships between water and milk protein powder particles. Differences in water-holding properties of milk protein products are frequently observed and may be due to the nature of the protein and to technological influences. Methods measuring water absorption and methods that measure water retention are applied for the examination of water-holding. By following this distinction, the principles of various methods (e.g., the Baumann method, the absorption capacity test, Farinographic procedures, net tests, filtration tests, modem instrumental techniques) are reviewed
