Comparison of Hardness and Masticatory Activity of Boiled Rice and Cooked Meat

Abstract

This study aimed to facilitate the design of a useful meal plan. Samples were rice (brown rice and polished rice) as staple foods and four types of meats (bovine, pig, chicken thigh, and chicken breast). The rice was cooked, while the meat was boiled or baked in a block. The hardness of each sample was determined through the rupture measurement and compared among samples, and the association between hardness and masticatory muscle activity was examined. Consequently, the cooked brown rice had a 1.5-fold greater breaking load than the cooked polished rice, affecting the number of mastication cycles and total muscle activity. Regarding the rupture characteristics of meat after boiling, beef and pork had a similar breaking load. As for chicken, breast had a significantly greater breaking load than chicken thigh ( p<0.05). Furthermore, after baking, beef displayed a significantly greater breaking value than pork ( p<0.001), and the braking value of chicken breast was significantly larger than that of chicken thigh ( p<0.01). However, the tendency of the fracture load of meat was not clearly reflected through masticatory muscle activity. To determine a clear association, we need to increase the number of subjects.