TEXTURE ANALYSIS OF

FOODS

MEHAK SAINI
L-2016-A-56-M
M.Sc (FT)
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 TEXTURE
Texture of food products is defined as all the
rheological, mechanical and structural attributes of
the product perceptible by means of mechanical,
tactile, visual as well as auditory receptors.

Texture is an important aspect of food quality,

sometimes even more important than flavor and color.

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Textural characteristics are perceived in three
stages of ingestion representing initial,
masticatory and residual:

INITIAL : Hardness, brittleness and

viscosity

MASTICATORY: gumminess, chewiness,

adhesiveness, hardness, brittleness and
viscosity

RESIDUAL : rate of breakdown and

general mouthfeel

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The tongue and palate evaluate feeling of meatiness
and grittiness in butter and sandy defect in ice cream
and sweetened condensed milk.

The pressure between the teeth and jaws determine

the hardness, chewiness and gumminess.

The fingertips and ball of the thumb help in

determining other textural attributes, notably
stickiness, elasticity/ sponginess and brittleness.

Creamy has a mouthfeel characteristic possessing the

textural property producing the sensation of the
presence of a miscible, thick, smooth liquid in the oral
cavity.
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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOD

The physical or the mechanical textural

characteristics of foods are related to the
reaction of the food to stress and can be
divided into primary parameters of
hardness, cohesiveness, viscosity, elasticity,
and adhesiveness, and into secondary (
derived) parameters of brittleness,
chewiness and gumminess.

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HARDNESS
• Force required to compress a substance between the molar teeth(
solid foods) or between the tongue and palate ( semi solid) to a given
deformation or penetration and desinated as soft, firm or hard
COHESIVENESS
• It is the extent to which a material can be deformed before it ruptures
and is dependent upon the strength of internal bonds.
TENDERNESS, CHEWINESS OR TOUGHNESS
• These characteristics are defined as the energy required to masticate
a solid food product to a state ready for swallowing and involves
compressing, shearing etc.
BRITTLENESS, CRUNCHINESS AND CRUMBLINESS
• These three characteristics are due to the high degree of hardness and
low degree of cohesiveness.
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ELASTICITY
• It is the rate at which the deformed material regains its original
condition after the removal of the deforming force.
ADHESIVENESS
• It is the force necessary to remove the material that adheres to the
mouth during eating and is described as sticky, tacky or gooey.
VISCOSITY
• It is the force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the
tongue and described as thin, watery or thick.
GUMMINESS
• It is the energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food. It is
characteristic of products with a low degree of hardness and a high
degree of cohesiveness.
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Characterization of food texture commonly falls into
two main groups:
• Sensory analysis
• Instrumental methods of analysis

Sensory evaluation of food texture by touch includes

the use of fingers, lips, tongue, palate and teeth.

Instrumental methods of assessing food texture :

• Can be carried out under more strictly defined and controlled

conditions
• Analysis gives consistent results, if analyzed in constant
conditions.
• More sensitive than subjective sensory equivalents.
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 MEASURING TEXTURE
Food texture can be reduced to measurements of
resistance to force i.e. compression, tensile strength etc.

There are instruments to measure each kind of force.

Instruments are used to measure how a food feels when

we eat it performs during processing or handling.

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FOOD PRODUCT TEXTURE ATTRIBUTE MOST COMMONLY
ASSOCIATED

Raw carrot Hard, crunchy

Butter Soft

Toffee Gummy

Meat/paneer Chewy

Oranges Juicy

Salt Gritty/coarse

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• Instrumental method of texture measurement
may be classified into three groups:
FUNDAMENTAL
• Measure rheological properties like viscosity and elasticity.

EMPIRICAL
• Measures parameters which are often poorly defined, but
appear to relate to textural quality as in the case of
measurement of texture using penetrometers and
shearing instruments.

IMITATIVE
• Stimulates the conditions to which materials are subjected
in practice.
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 SUCCULOMETER
an instrument for measuring the moisture content of a fresh
or processed vegetable product (such as an ear of corn)

uses compression to squeeze juice out of food as a measure

of succulence.

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 PENETROMETER
an instrument for determining the consistency or hardness of a substance by
measuring the depth or rate of penetration of a rod or needle driven into it by
a known force.

measure the force required to move a plunger a fixed distance through a food
material.

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 TENDEROMETER
A device for determining the maturity
and tendernes of samples of fruits and vegetables

applies compression and shear to measure the

tenderness of foods.

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 TEXTURAL PROFILE ANALYZER

It is a double compression test for determining the

textural properties of foods.
It is primarily concerned with the evaluation of mechanical
characteristics where a material is subjected to a controlled
force from which a deformation curve of response is generated.

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COHESIVENESS:
AREA B/ AREA A

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