Book excerpt: Calorimetry in Food Processing: Analysis and Design of Food Systems introduces the basic principles of calorimetry and highlights various applications of calorimetry to characterize temperature-induced changes including starch gelatinization and crystallization, lipid transitions, protein denaturation, and inactivation of microorganisms in a variety of food and biological materials. Emphasis is given to the use of calorimetry as a tool for evaluation of processing requirements in order to assess the efficacy of food processing and for characterization of the effects of changes in formulation and processing conditions.