A Texture Profile of Foodstuffs Based upon Well‐defined Rheological Properties

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Many attributes contribute to texture, and panel tests should be so arranged that all these attributes are analyzed. The texture profile concept used by Szczesniak and her co‐workers is critically examined, and several modifications are proposed. The new scheme consists of primary, secondary and tertiary categories. These terms are not used in the philosophical sense proposed by Locke. Primary attributes are analytical composition, particle size and size distribution, particle shape, air content etc. There are only three secondary attributes viz., elasticity (E), viscosity (η) and adhesion (N). The tertiary characteristics are basically the responses most often used in sensory analysis of texture. Tertiary characteristics are derived from a complex blending of two or more secondary attributes. The former can be regarded as falling within a three dimensional continuum which has the secondary attributes as coordinate axes. Consequentiy all tertiary attributes can be represented by rectangular coordinates of the form (αE, βn, γN) where α, β, and γ represent the respective magnitudes of the three secondary attributes. Since solids, semisolids and fluids have characteristic values of these attributes, it should be possible to predict panel responses from mechanical strain‐time tests, which are carried out at the approximately constant rate of shear operative during mastication, and adhesion tests.