Influence of some food samples on masticatory muscle activities during chewing of female young adults

Abstract

Influence of some food samples of which have different levels of texture such as hardness, elasticity and chewiness on masticatory muscle activities during chewing of female young adults (54 panelists; 19 to 23 years old, average of 20.5 years old) was investigated. The texture of food samples was measured by a tensipresser. The food samples with different texture properties were selected as follows : cooked milled rice, kamaboko, cooked brown rice, peanut, pork chop, octopus boiled and seasoned, edible burdock boiled, takuan (pickled Japanese radish) and surume (dried squid). The sum of the proportion of amplitudes for temporal and masseter muscles were calculated from the electromyograms recorded. Relationship between the masticatory muscle activities on chewing 9 food samples and the texture of these foods was evaluated by regression analysis. (1) The difference between food samples was observed in terms of sum of the proportion of amplitudes for temporal and masseter muscles indicating that the sum of the proportion of amplitudes for temporal and masseter muscles could be a useful index of masticatory muscle activities. (2) The prediction formula of sum of the proportion of amplitudes for temporal and masseter muscles were obtained from the chewiness of explanatory variable (p<0.01, respectively). It was suggested that masticatory muscle activities were dependent on chewiness in the texture of foods.