pehmeksymä

Pehmeksymä is a Finnish term that describes the process of something becoming soft or pliable. It can refer to a variety of physical changes in materials. For instance, in the context of cooking, pehmeksymä might describe vegetables softening as they are cooked, or dough becoming more elastic with kneading. This softening is often due to changes in the internal structure of the material, such as the breakdown of cell walls in plants or the hydration of starches and proteins in food.

The term can also be used in a more general sense to describe anything that loses its rigidity and becomes yielding. For example, a hard piece of wood might undergo pehmeksymä if it absorbs moisture and swells, or a rigid plastic might become soft when heated. The degree of pehmeksymä can vary, from a slight yielding to a complete loss of form. Understanding the conditions that lead to pehmeksymä is important in many fields, including culinary arts, material science, and even certain biological processes where tissues might soften. The opposite of pehmeksymä would be a hardening or stiffening process.