Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486

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Food Research International

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres

Effect of structure in the sensory characterization of the crispness of toasted

rusk roll
C. Primo-Martin a,*, E.M. Castro-Prada a,b, M.B.J. Meinders a,c, P.F.G. Vereijken a,d, T. van Vliet a,b
a
TI Food and Nutrition (WCFS), Bornsesteeg 59, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
b
Wageningen University, Bomenweg 2, 6700 EW Wageningen, The Netherlands
c
Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group, Bornsesteeg 59, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
d
Biometris, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 100, 6700 AC Wageningen, The Netherlands

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Crispness is a salient textural attribute of toasted foods strongly related to their preference. Crispness is
Received 22 October 2007 affected by water content, mechanical properties and morphology of the food. Sound emission and force
Accepted 24 February 2008 characteristics during food crushing play a key role in crispness.
The aim was to assess the effect of product morphology on sensory crispness grading of toasted rusk roll,
a cellular solid food. Products with coarse and fine structures were studied. Additionally, the effect of
water on crispness was studied by using samples with water activities from 0.30 to 0.8. The sensory test
Keywords:
showed that upon absorption of water the product became tough and soft and lost its crispness. The mor-
Cellular solids
Crispness
phology of the product had a significant effect on crispness intensity. Coarse products were rated crispier
Structure than those with a fine crumb grain. Deterioration of crispness (Aw10%) started at 0.46 and 0.50 water activ-
Toasted rusk roll ity (6.2% and 7.1% H2O) for the fine and coarse structure product, respectively. The critical water activity
Water content (Awc) at which the products lost 50% of the crispness was 0.57 and 0.59 (9.1% and 9.7% H2O), respectively
Water activity for the fine and coarse structure product.
Relative humidity Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sound
Sensory

1. Introduction
A salient textural attribute for toasted foods is crispness, which
has been shown to determine food preference (Katz & Labuza,
1981). The architecture of a crispy product can mostly be charac-
terized as an open cellular structure that, in physical terms, is stiff,
brittle and fractures and disintegrates abruptly and completely
during biting and chewing with accompanying sound emission
(Dijksterhuis, Luyten, De Wijk, & Mojet, 2007). Sound produced
during crushing plays a key role in the perception of crispness
and together with the flavor in the mouth and the oral tactile sen-
sations produced during chewing determines the pleasant percep-
tion of food (Drake, 1963; Vickers, 1981; Vickers & Bourne, 1976).
Crispness is negatively affected by increasing water content or
water activity. The effect of water on the texture of crispy products
has been widely studied before (Dacremont, 1995; Duizer, Campa-
nella, & Barnes, 1998; Harris & Peleg, 1996; Katz & Labuza, 1981;
Marzec, Lewicki, & Ranachowski, 2007; Roudaut, Dacremont, & Le
Meste, 1998; Sauvageot & Blond, 1991; Tesch, Normand, & Peleg,
1996; Valles Pamies, Roudaut, Dacremont, Le Meste, & Mitchell,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 317 475120; fax: +31 317 475347.
E-mail address: Cristina.Primo@wur.nl (C. Primo-Martin).
2000). These studies showed that upon adsorption of water a crispy
product becomes pliable, ductile and soft and loses its crispness and
consequently its acceptability by the consumer. Despite these stud-
ies, the relative importance of water activity over water content or
viceversa has yet not been clarified and it is currently under study
(Van Nieuwenhuijzen et al., submitted for publication).
Other factors affecting crispness are the properties of the mate-
rial (composition, physical properties of the components) and the
structure of the product (Luyten, Plijter, & van Vliet, 2004). Several
authors suggested that crispness of food is affected by the size of
the air cells and the thickness of the cell walls (Coppock & Carn-
ford, 1960; Luyten & van Vliet, 2006; Mallikarjunan, 2004; Matz,
1962) but not clear guidelines for the industry have been pro-
duced. Barret, Cardello, Lesher, and Taub (1994) found a relation
between mechanical properties (plateau stress) and structural
properties (cell size and density of the material). Gao and Tan
(1996) could predict mechanical properties from the analysis of
the surface and cross-section images of a crispy product. Theoret-
ical models like that of Gibson and Ashby (1997) have been applied
to brittle foams to relate mechanical properties, sensory properties
and cellular structure (Agbisit, Alavi, Cheng, Herald, & Trater,
2007). Dogan and Kokini (2006) recently showed a relation
between crispness and the average number of peaks during

0963-9969/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2008.02.004
 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486
fracture which varied with structural parameters and with phase
change in the extrudates. However, the underlying mechanism
relating morphology to the sensory properties of crispy foods is
not yet clearly understood.
The aim of this work was to assess the effect of the morphology
of the product on the crispness perception. Thereto we studied the
sensory perception of two toasted rusk rolls that differ significantly
from each other regarding to morphology, one had a much coarser
morphology than the other one. Conditioning of samples at differ-
ent water activities was used as a tool to study the effect of the
morphology. A mathematical model (Peleg, 1994) was applied to
calculate the onset of the loss of crispness as a function of the
structure of the product.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Materials
Toasted rusk rolls with a fine and a coarse structure were used.
The toasted rusk roll with fine structure was kindly supplied by
Bolletje (echte beschuit, Bolletje, Almelo, The Netherlands). The
toasted rusk roll with a coarse structure was prepared at TNO bak-
ing laboratory (TNO Quality of Life, Zeist, The Netherlands) with
the formulation supplied by Bolletje. Except with respect to some
additives the formulations were the same.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Bread making
Toasted rusk rolls with a coarse structure were prepared at the
TNO baking laboratory (TNO Quality of life, Zeist, The Netherlands).
Wheat flour (Dutch Top Rusk flour Meneba 2000 g), water
(900 ml), dry yeast (133 g), salt (16 g), sugar (100 g), sugar syrup
(200 g), egg (100 g), rusk jelly (240 g) and a mixture of improvers
(20 g, provided by Bolletje) were mixed in a mixer (Kemper SP
15, Kemper, The Netherlands).
First, all ingredients (at 10 °C) were blended for 1 min at low
speed (140 rpm). Next, the water, egg, sugar syrup and rusk jelly
(at 20 °C) was added and mixed at low speed for 2 min. Then, the
dough was kneaded at high speed (280 rpm) until a final dough
temperature of 28 °C was reached. After mixing the dough was
scaled and rounded and allowed to rest for 30 min. Next a second
and a third cycle of resting and rounding was done for 15 and
20 min. The dough was divided into smaller portions of 36.6 g
and given a fourth resting of 10 min. Next, the dough pieces were
flattened and put in a rusk tin. A final proofing was done at 30 °C
and 80% RH until a fixed volume of gas was produced (900 ml)
(in a piece of 186 g dough, SJA Fermentograph, Franken, Goes,
The Netherlands). The dough was baked at 215 °C for 13 min in a
Rototherm RE oven (Haton, The Netherlands). Afterwards the rusk
rolls were cut (15 mm height) and pre-toasted (with the cut side to
the top) at 230 °C for 7 min. Final toasting was done at 150 °C for a
duration of 12 min. The toasted rusk rolls were allowed to cool at
room temperature for 30 min before packaging in a double plastic
bag. Top and bottom pieces had different gas cell distribution. The
top piece was selected for our experiments because the difference
in structure was larger compared with the fine structure of the
commercial toasted rusk roll.
2.2.2. Rusk roll preparation for sensory analysis
The bottom edge (1–2 mm) of the toasted rusk roll was harder
than the rest of the product therefore it was removed using a food
slicer. The side edges had the same problem and they were sepa-
rated from the middle part by cutting this out with a cylindrical
481
shaped mould (3.5 cm diameter). These middle parts were used
for sensory analysis.
2.2.3. Conditioning at constant relative humidity
Samples were conditioned at eight relative humidities (RH) by
placing the samples in climatic cabinets (Weiss SB 11300, Weiss
technik Ltd., Buckinghamshire, UK) set at 22 °C and RH varying
from 30% to 80%.
The time needed to reach steady state was about 2 days for the
samples at 80% RH, 3 days for the samples equilibrated in the range
from 50% to 70% RH, respectively, and 4 days for the samples equil-
ibrated at 30% and 40% RH. Samples were considered to be in stea-
dy state with the storage RH when they reached a constant weight
in time (+0.001 g).
2.2.4. Water activity
Water activity (Aw) of crust samples was measured as the rela-
tive humidity of the air in equilibrium with the samples in the
sealed measuring chamber using a chilled-mirror dewpoint tech-
nique at 22 °C (Aqua Lab Series 3, Decagon devices, Pullman, USA).
2.2.5. Water content
The water content of the toasted rusk roll was determined by
placing the samples in an oven at 105 °C for 24 h. The water con-
tent was calculated from the weight determined before and after
oven drying.
2.2.6. Image acquisition and analysis
Images of the cross sections of the toasted rusks rolls where ta-
ken from the top side of the toasted rusk rolls using a Hewlett
Packard flatbed scanner (HP Scanjet C7716, Hewlett Packard,
USA). Images were scanned fullscale using a resolution of 47.2 pix-
els/mm. The obtained images were analyzed using computerized
image analysis with the free software ImageJ (http://rsb.info.nih.-
gov/ij/). RGB colour segmentation was performed and the red col-
our was selected for further analysis of the images. Unevenness
and shadows were filtered using the ImageJ settings: bandpass fil-
ter of 100 and 5, for large and small structures, respectively. The
number of cells, cell area and mean cell area were analyzed with
Matlab (Matworks 7.0.4).
2.2.7. Density
Toasted rusk roll volume (v) (sample equilibrated at 30% RH)
was determined in duplicate using rape seed displacement. Den-
sity (q) was calculated as q ¼ mm where m is the mass of the toasted
rusk roll.
2.2.8. Sensory analysis
A trained panel of 8 Dutch panelists, 3 male and 5 female, aged
between 20 and 62 years was used for the sensory tests. Table 1 de-
scribes the first bite and multiple bite attributes that were used in
this study. They were selected from the attributes described by
Dijksterhuis et al. (2007). Multiple bite attributes are used to study
the effect of changes happening during food mastication (eg. saliva
hydration) that affected the perception of crispness. Sensory attri-
butes were scored by the panelist on line-scales (from 0 to 1000)
using the Fizz computer program for automated sensory analysis
(Biosystemes, 1998, FIZZ software, v1.20 K, Couternon, France).
Prior to testing three training sessions were held to familiarize
the participants with the products and with the attributes. Fine
and coarse toasted rusk rolls equilibrated at eight different water
activities were presented. Two duplicates were performed in two
days. Within each day 16 samples were offered to the panelists in
random order in one hour session including a 10 min break. For
each sample, first bite attributes were rated directly after the first
bite. Multiple bite ratings were rated while chewing the sample.
482 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486

Table 1 a coarse structure had more large gas cells than the one with a fine
Atributes at first and multiple bite in English and Dutch and English definition structure which in turn had relatively more small gas cells.
Attributes English Dutch Definition Density of the toasted rusk rolls was: 0.11 ± 0.01 and
First bite Amount of geluid Amount and loudness of sound 0.12 ± 0.02 g/ml, respectively, for the coarse and fine structure
sound products.
Snapping krakend Loud, sharp, short sound
Pitch knisperend High pitched sound, light sound, longer 3.2. Water activity and water content of toasted rusk rolls
sounding
Crackling knapperig It breaks in pieces
Crispy krokant Cracks, more airy than crackly Table 2 shows the measured water activity and the water con-
Brittle bros Airy, not hard, but giving resistance tent of the samples after equilibration at the different RH. The dif-
Bite force bijtkracht Resistance, force you have to exert to bite, ferences between water activity as well as the water content of the
not necessarily hard
toasted rusk rolls with different structure are marginal, with the
Hard hard Resistance, with sound, snaps. Bite force
needed exception of the coarse structure equilibrated at 30% RH. The latter
Tough taai Requires pulling to tear off had a lower water content (3.6% H2O) than the one with the fine
Crumbly kruimelig Small pieces in the mouth structure (4.8% H2O).
Splinters scherfjes Sharp pieces in the mouth
Multiple Amount of geluid Amount and loudness of sound 3.3. Sensory analysis
bite sound
Type of type geluid From low to high pitch (musical scale)
Panelists were asked to score samples with different morphol-
sound
Snapping krakend Loud, sharp, short sound ogy and different water activity on first bite and multiple bite attri-
Pitch knisperend High pitched sound, light sound, longer butes. ANOVA showed that the structure of the product and the
sounding water activity had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on first as well as
Crackling knapperig It breaks in pieces
multiple bite attributes.
Crispy krokant Cracks, more airy than crackly
Brittle bros Airy, not hard, but giving resistance
Hard hard Resistance, with sound, snaps. Bite force 3.3.1. First bite attributes
needed A principal component bi-plot (Fig. 2) based on all first bite
Airy luchtig attributes of the averaged sensory scores of the sensory panel
Drying droog
shows the different products in the space delimited by the first
Tough taai Requires pulling to tear off
Crumbly kruimelig Small pieces in the mouth two principal components (explaining 92% and 5% of the total var-
Splinters scherfjes Sharp pieces in the mouth iance, respectively). The first component separated toughness from
Gooey klef By chewing becomes a soft masse in your all other attributes. The second component separated crispy, crack-
mouth, sticky
ling, sound, snapping, splinters, bite force and hard from pitch,
Melting smeltend Melts in the mouth
brittle and crumbly and was associated with samples with low
water activity/content. PCA separated in the first dimension the
2.2.9. Statistical analysis samples as function of the water activity/content, samples on the
Pairwise comparison between sensory attributes, averaged over right side had a lower water activity than the samples on the left
duplicates and panel members, at each water activity was carried side. With increasing water activities the crispy perception started
out using a two-sided t-test (P < 0.05) with GenStat software v 8 to diminish or finally disappeared completely. The second dimen-
(VSN international Ltd., Herts, UK). sion separated based on morphology samples that had perceptible
The relationship between water activity, morphology and attri- crispness.
butes were studied using principal component analysis (PCA) The morphology of the samples resulted in a different percep-
(Unscrambler, Camo, Inc.) performed on averaged sensory data tion of the sound and the texture during biting of the products.
over panelists and replicates. The coarse grain structure was perceived as producing more and
The sigmoid relationship between the sensory attributes, aver- louder sound as well as sharper and shorter sound events (snap-
aged over panelists and replicates, and the water activity or the ping). The texture of the fine grain structure was perceived as more
water content was described using the logistic curve: brittle and crumblier, breaking into smaller pieces after biting. In
C contrast, the coarse one was characterized as crispier, crackling,
S ¼ Smin þ ð1Þ harder and breaking into sharp pieces, splinters, when fractured
1 þ expðB ðX  X c ÞÞ
by the teeth. This is in line with previous work (Vincent, 2004)
where S is the expected value of the sensory score averaged on potato crisps that showed that more and smaller cells result
over panelists, Smin the lower asymptote, C the attribute range in a less crisp.
(Smax  Smin), X the water activity or water content (Aw or [H2O]), Fig. 3 shows the averaged scores for the first bite attributes,
B the slope at the transition region or steepness, and Xc the water sound, snapping, pitch, crispy, hard and splinters, as a function of
activity water content at which the sensory attribute dropped by the water activity for both coarse and fine structure products. Sig-
50% (Awc or [H2O]c). Non linear regression analysis (using GenStat nificant differences (shown by arrows) due to product morphology
software v 8 (VSN international Ltd., Herts, UK)) was used to fit were found specially at low water activities for sound, snapping,
the curves. crispy, hard and splinters. Pitch was not significantly different be-
tween coarse and fine toasted rusk rolls.
3. Results and discussion Crispy related attributes are usually characterized by a sigmoid
relationship between the attributes and moisture, water activity or
3.1. Morphology of toasted rusk rolls temperature and can be fitted using Eq. (1). The estimated param-
eters from the fitted logistic curves, describing the relationship be-
Fig. 1 shows the size distribution of the gas cells of the coarse tween sensory attribute and water activity, are shown in Table 3A.
and fine toasted rusk rolls. The average gas cell size was Table 3B shows estimated parameters for the relationship between
0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.10 ± 0.01 mm2, for the toasted rusk roll with sensory attribute and water activity. Fitted curves are shown in
coarse and fine structure, respectively. The toasted rusk roll with Fig. 3. R2 of the fitted curves were between 0.97 and 0.99. This sig-
 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486 483

Fig. 1. Example of images of toasted rusk roll with different gas cell structure: (A) coarse morphology and (B) fine morphology. Gas cell size distribution of toasted rusk
roll (C).

Table 2 The onset of crispness decrease was 0.46 and 0.50 water activity
Water activity and water content of samples conditioned to relative humidities (RH) (or 6.2% and 7.1% water content) for the fine and course structure
ranging from 30% to 80% product, respectively. And the critical water activity for crispness
RH storage Water activity Water content (Awc) corresponded with values of 0.57 and 0.59 (or 9.1% and
Fine structure Coarse structure Fine structure Coarse structure 9.7% water content). When taking in consideration all attributes
Aw10% was found between 0.43 and 0.51 (4.6% and 7.4% water con-
Average SD Average SD Average SD Average SD
tent) for the products with a fine morphology and 0.47 and 0.54
30 0.29 ± 0.01 0.29 ± 0.02 4.8 ± 0.6 3.6 ± 0.3 (6.0% and 8.3% water content) for the products with a coarse mor-
40 0.37 ± 0.01 0.38 ± 0.02 5.0 ± 0.1 5.1 ± 0.1
50 0.48 ± 0.01 0.48 ± 0.00 7.1 ± 0.2 7.0 ± 0.1
phology, although significant differences were not found between
55 0.53 ± 0.01 0.53 ± 0.00 8.2 ± 0.4 8.1 ± 0.1 morphologies. For the attribute splinters the relation attribute-
60 0.59 ± 0.00 0.59 ± 0.00 9.5 ± 0.1 9.6 ± 0.1 water activity did not follow a sigmoid relationship (Fig. 3) for
65 0.62 ± 0.00 0.61 ± 0.01 10.6 ± 0.3 10.3 ± 0.2 the coarse morphology therefore the values of Awc and Aw10% are
70 0.66 ± 0.01 0.66 ± 0.01 11.6 ± 0.1 11.7 ± 0.0
undefined in this case. From the estimated parameters only the
80 0.77 ± 0.00 0.78 ± 0.01 15.2 ± 0.2 15.6 ± 0.5
maximum value C was found to be significant for the different
morphologies.

moid relationship is characterized by three parts (Peleg, 1994). The
first part of the sigmoid curves shows a constant or a slight de-
crease of the attribute, the second part shows a rapid decrease of
the averaged score for the attribute and the third part corresponds
to the disappearance of the sensory sensation. The logistic curve
can be characterize by the water activity at which the sensory per-
ception is dropped by 50%. Peleg called this the critical water activ-
ity (Awc) (Peleg, 1994). However, also of interest is the water
activity/content at which the sensory perception starts to decrease
due to increasing hydration, that is, the starting point of the rapid
decrease of the attribute. We define this point at the drop of the
score by 10% (Aw10%, and H2O10%, Table 3A and 3B, respectively).
3.3.2. Multiple bite attributes
Principal component analysis of the multiple bite attributes
(Fig. 4) showed the same pattern of distribution of attributes and
sample morphology over the first two principal components
(explaining 90% and 6% of the total variance, respectively) as ob-
served for the first bite attributes. Additionally, the fine product
was perceived as melting and drying more during mastication. Fur-
ther taste differences that were found between the products are
that the coarse product was perceived as more salty and less sweet
than the fine product.
Fig. 5 shows a comparison of attributes scored at first and at
multiple bites for the product with a coarse morphology. Crispness,
484 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486

Fig. 2. First two dimensions of PCA for first bite attributes. Letters indicate product morphology: C: coarse, F: fine. Numbers indicate water activity of the product.

Fig. 3. Effect of water activity on attributes: amount of sound, snapping, pitch, crispy, hard and splinters for coarse and fine structure. Open and close squares are
experimental data. Solid lines are fittings of Eq. (1). Arrows show statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) between products with the same water activity.

hardness, sound and pitch were scored higher at first bite than on
multiple bites. Same results were found for the product with a fine
morphology (results not shown). The judgment of higher crispness
at first bite corresponds well with previous work (Vickers, 1985) in
which the authors compared crispness as perceived from bite
sounds and chew sounds, although this author found no difference
when crunchiness was judged from bite or chew sounds. Duizer
(2001) also described crispness as a maximum during the first bite
with a decline as mastication progresses due to breakdown of the
cell wall fragments by the teeth and to the hydration by saliva.
4. Conclusions
This work shows the importance of morphology for crispness
perception and retention besides the known dependence of crisp-
ness on the water activity and water content. The onset of decrease
of the sensory attributes, defined as Aw10%, was for crispness 0.46
and 0.50 water activity (or 6.2% and 7.1% water content) for the
fine and coarse structure product, respectively. The effect of the
structure on the onset of crispness decrease, although not signifi-
cant, has not been described before and it may have important
 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486 485

Table 3A
Estimated parameters from fitted logistic curves Eq. (1), relating first bite sensory attributes averaged over panelists and water activity

Morphology Parameter Amount of sound Snapping Pitch of sound Crispness Splinters Hardness
Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e.
Fine B 18.4 2.3 28.8 13.5 19.4 4.6 19.8 4.3 15.0 5.5 12.3 9.5
Awc 0.61 0.01 0.58 0.02 0.59 0.01 0.57 0.01 0.57 0.02 0.63 0.07
C 561 32 306 51 714 74 463 44 255 46 288 143
Smin 62 26 74 39 42 57 54 33 46 33 80 119
Aw10% 0.49 0.02 0.51 0.03 0.48 0.02 0.46 0.03 0.43 0.06 0.45 0.1
Coarse B 19.6 2.1 16.6 5.2 29.2 8.7 22.9 3.9 23.6 7.5
Awc 0.61 0.01 0.60 0.02 0.62 0.01 0.59 0.01 0.61 0.01
C 666 30 563 85 568 59 595 41 414 51
Smin 77 24 35 67 78 49 63 32 98 41
Aw10% 0.50 0.01 0.47 0.04 0.54 0.02 0.50 0.01 0.52 0.02

s.e. = standard error.

Table 3B
Estimated parameters from fitted logistic curves Eq. (1), relating first bite sensory attributes averaged over panelists and water content

Morphology Parameter Amount of sound Snapping Pitch of sound Crispness Splinters Hardness
Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e. Estimate s.e.
Fine B 0.66 0.12 1.11 0.59 0.72 0.20 0.74 0.20 0.65 0.29 0.38 0.48
[H2O]c 10.0 0.3 9.4 0.6 9.6 0.4 9.1 0.4 9.1 0.7 10.4 2.0
C 568 47 304 58 724 90 474 58 248 54 313 256
Smin 71 32 79 42 54 59 60 35 57 30 82 154
[H2O]10% 6.7 0.8 7.4 0.9 6.5 0.6 6.2 1.1 5.7 1.9 4.6 7.1
Coarse B 0.71 0.10 0.58 0.23 1.01 0.32 0.85 0.17 0.83 0.28
[H2O]c 10.1 0.2 9.8 0.6 10.5 0.3 9.7 0.3 10.2 0.4
C 671 43 580 114 570 67 598 48 416 57
Smin 88 30 46 69 77 53 71 34 102 43
[H2O]10% 7.0 0.4 6.0 1.9 8.3 0.9 7.1 1.2 7.5 0.9

s.e. = standard error.

Fig. 4. First two dimensions of PCA for multiple bite attributes. Letters indicate product morphology: C: coarse, F: fine. Numbers indicate water activity of the product.

consequences for product storage. This onset value will limit con- has been used up to now. Awc for crispness corresponded with val-
ditions at which these products can be stored in order to keep their ues between 0.57 and 0.59 (or 9.1–9.7% water content). which is in
crispy sensations. In literature the critical water activity for (Awc) reasonable agreement with the results of Roudaut et al. (1998)
486 C. Primo-Martin et al. / Food Research International 41 (2008) 480–486
Fig. 5. Comparison of first and multiple bite scores for attributes crispy, brittle, pitch and sound in function of water activity for toasted rusk roll with coarse morphology.
Arrows show statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) between products with the same water activity.
who found a decrease of crispness at 10.1% H2O for dried white
bread.
In this study, the samples with fine structure were considered
to be more brittle and crumblier and the samples with a coarse
structure were considered to be crispier, with more sound emis-
sion. This result may help the industry to design products with
an optimal crispness and with a longer crispness retention.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Ben Uitdewilligen (Bolletje, Al-
melo, The Netherlands) for providing us with the recipe and ingre-
dients to prepare the toasted rusk roll with the coarse structure.
We also thank Rene de Wijk and Hanneke Elzerman for performing
the sensory test.
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