Development of evaluation model for texture of gel-like foods using mechanical properties and sensory evaluation

Abstract The aim of this study is to clarify the essential means of describing the characteristics of foods represented by texture terms using a model based on the mechanical properties of foods. Seven texture terms were identified, and the mechanical properties of gel-like samples were determined using elasticity and rupture tests. The Blatz, Sharda and Tschoegl (BST) equation was applied to the stress-strain curve of the samples, and the elastic parameter E and the nonlinear index n were calculated. The evaluation model of the score obtained from the sensory test for each texture term was developed using E and n, rupture stress, and rupture depth. The model demonstrated the contribution of each variable to the texture term. Moreover, a single correlation was investigated between each specific term for the texture and each mechanical parameter, respectively. These results confirmed that some of the impressions given by the texture terms did not match the actual mechanical properties of foods.