41 Translation of food mechanics into texture perception: Oral breakdown of cookies and consumer assessment.

W. E. BROWN. Institute of Food Research, UK.

Production of food products to a defined specification requires understanding of the functional properties of the individual ingredients and how these combine in the final product. Such properties can be measured and compared. However a food material only becomes a food if it is eaten, and the factors which control what combinations of properties result in desirable eating qualities are not so readily measured, modelled or predicted. For this it is necessary to understand how foods are broken down in the mouth during eating and the physiological processes by which sensory feedback is generated and interpreted by consumers in making judgements regarding sensory properties and liking. For a series of plain cookies varying in texture, chewing patterns were recorded from ordinary consumers using electromyography (EMG) to measure activity of the masticatory muscles, and measurement of jaw movement patterns during eating. Thus the oral mechanics of food breakdown were determined. Interpreting these data in the light of instrumental measures of texture, sensory profiling and consumer preference for the same samples indicated that “hardness” related to the force necessary to break the samples on the first bite/chews, crunchiness to sustained high forces in subsequent chews and crumbliness to the rate of moisture uptake by the crumbs in- mouth. Differences in the oral breakdown patterns between individuals may be responsible for differences in consumers’ preferences for a range of textures.