A NOVEL METHOD FOR MEASURING TEXTURE USING A FOOD PROCESSOR

Abstract

ABSTRACTMeasurement of food texture is becoming increasingly important to help prevent mis-swallowing in elderly individuals. However, it is difficult to estimate food texture for mastication and swallowing. In this study, a mixing-recording method was applied to measure food texture. A commercial food processor was used to homogenize food gels, and the torque was monitored as an electric current value, which was correlated with the viscosity of Newtonian fluid. Agar and gelatin gels at several concentrations were applied to the mixing-recording system, and individual mixing curves were obtained. The current values had a different tendency at each mixing stage. At the beginning of the mixing, when lumps of the original gel were present, current values of gelatin were higher than those of agar. From the middle of mixing, the fractured pastes of high-concentration agar gels had little mobility, and current values decreased, indicating that gelatin was more cohesive than agar. The current values of low-concentration agar and gelatin were correlated with the hardness of the gels and were aligned on the same correlation curve, indicating that the viscosity of the fractured paste was correlated with the original gel hardness under certain conditions. Moreover, measurements of agar gels of different sizes revealed that the texture was size dependent. Thus, the mixing-recording method had several advantages over conventional methods, including time- and size-dependent fracturing and bolus properties, and could be useful for the measurement of food texture in terms of mastication and swallowing.