Palatal Pressure and Electromyography while Eating Gelatin, Agar and Carrageenan Jelly

Abstract

The palatal pressure (PP) and electromyography (EMG) of the muscles used in mastication while eating gelatin, agar and carrageenan jelly samples were simultaneously measured.Each jelly sample was naturally ingested by the tongue and hard palate and resulted in an increase in PP and in the number of pressure pulses with increasing concentration of the sample up to its critical concentration. Above the critical concentration of the sample, the natural eating method appeared to involve the teeth, since PP decreased slightly and the average EMG noticeably increased. The average PP in the anterior region of the palate was greater than that in the central or lateral region for the harder jelly. The PP patterns for the three samples of jelly caused by pressing gave multi-break points, with a characteristic pattern for each sample.