SENSORY PROPERTIES OF FOODS (33353)

“Texture”

BY PROF: DR. SAYED ABO TOR

Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor

Texture

• Texture is one of the important natural properties of food which affect its
quality, it can be sensible by either mouth or fingers.
• Food texture is affected by the chemical composition and natural properties of
food.
• It will differ according to the differences in these parameters
• The type of food and the degree of ripening may also affect the texture.

֎ finger feel is used for determination the following properties of

characteristics of food texture:
1) Firmness: such as apple and Pyrus communis (pear)
2) Softness: such as apricot and tomato
3) Juiciness: it represents the amount of juice released from the fat material
either after pressing such as lemon and canned corn.
֎ Mouth feel is used for determination the following properties of
characteristics of food texture:

1) Chewiness: it represents the resistance of the food to the chewing process in

the mouth, chewing process has two forces affect the food material which are
compression and shearing at the same time for example (meat and gums)

2) Fibrousness: it represents the residues of fibers remained in the mouth after

chewing which resist the shearing and shredding ()‫القطع والتمزق‬, such as leavy
vegetables.

3) Grittiness: it refers to the presence of small particles which has no soft nature
(‫ )ال تمتلك الطبيعة الطرية‬of food during chewing such as Pyrus communis, fig,
strawberry, guava, and husk tomatoes, additionally the foreign materials such
as sand, dust, and clay.

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Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor
4) Mealiness/starchiness: it is a sense that the food is covering all the mouth
due to the foods which are rich in starch such as potatoes

5) Stickiness it is a sense of very sticky and viscous texture in the mouth during
chewing, such as all kinds of salt and sweets

6) Oiliness: it is a sense in the mouth during chewing a food rich or contain high
amount of fat such as →peanut, fried potatoes, and butter.

⚫ What is a texture analyzer?

Texture analyzer (or texturometer) are instruments used to apply scientific
methods to the measurements and analysis of product texture.
(Which is a scientific instrument that moves in either an up or down direction to
compress or stretch a sample. The moving arm is fitted with a load cell and
records the force response of the sample to the deformation that is imposed on it.
Force, distance, and time data is collected and usually presented as a curve on a
graph which, when analyzed, indicates the texture of the sample.)

⚫ The principle of a texture measurement system is physically deforming a test

sample in a controlled manner and measuring its response.

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Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor

Principles of measuring the texture of foods

First: fluid foods

• Viscosity is playing an important role in the characteristics of the
foods.
• Consistency of these foods is represented by determination of its
viscosity.
• This type of foods is classified into two main classes which are:

1) Newtonian fluids (which follows the Newtonian law of fluids):

Such as → diluted sugar solution

→ diluted gelatin solution
→ oil
→ apple juice
→ most of artificial drinks

2) Non-Newtonian fluid (which follows the Newtonian law of fluids):

Such as → tomato paste

→ animal fats
→ hydrogenated fats

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Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor

Second: solids and semi solids food

▪ Generally, viscosity do not play an important role in the texture

properties/ characteristics of these foods compared to the foods which
characterized by its degree of fluidity.

▪ The main difference between both of the molecules which called

“Intermolecular Force” (the more/high force the high/more firmness
of these foods) which make the food more firm and not humid

▪ A clear example explains this:

In spite of an apple fruits has higher moisture content than milk, the
apple fruits have higher degree of firmness / rigidity than milk

▪ This property is mainly depending on the:

1) construction of the material itself
2) “Intermolecular Force” which if it is weak, the food material
will tend to be more or highly fluid/ humid

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Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor

Principles of measuring the texture of solids and semi solids foods

1) Elasticity: it refers to the ability of the object to return back into

original position after removing the affected force.
When we treat with the food material, we usually have to consider
that it appears both of Elastic and Plastic characteristics such as:
a) ordinary/traditional jelly: it returns back to its original shape
after pressing and removing a certain force.
If the force is increased into a certain limit that permanent
deformation will happen
b) generally elastic foods: such as, meat pie and jelly that deformation
happened in each of them is “reversable”.
On the other hand, that plastic foods deformation is “irreversible”.
2) Stress: when any object or food material is exposed to an external
force there is an internal force will be generated which resist/opposite
the deformation resulted from this external force.
This internal force called “stress” or “strain” which has the same units
of that affected force, which is usually a unit of force divided by a
unit of area as follows:

𝑭⁄
𝑨 Where: F = Force
A = Area
֎The amount of deformation is very important to represent/explain the texture

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Faculty of agriculture, Alexandria university
Food& Dairy science department
Sensory properties of food (33353) By: Dr. Sayed Abo-Tor

3) Instruments depending on the following parameters:

→ Compression
→ Shearing
→ Tensile strength / tearing
→ Cutting
→ Shear pressure

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