Abstract
The chewing gum base is mainly composed of chicle, jelutong, sorva, polyisobutyl ene and polyvinylacetate. By using these materials as gum base, we prepared various samples containing different amounts of l-menthol, 1, 3 and 5%, and experimented on the c hange of remaining l-menthol after masticating these samples. The order of the ratio of r emaining l-menthol was jelutong>chicle>sorva>polyisobutylene>polyvinylacetate, and th e ratio of remaining l-menthol was approximately correlated to the chewing time by an eq uation "MR=100-at0.68" " (MR: the ratio of remaining l-menthol, t:the chewing time). A nd we checked the mechanical properties of these samples before masticating. The chang ed ratio in dynamic viscoelasticity between the samples with and without l-menthol closely r elated to the ratio of remaining l-menthol after masticating these samples. These results will enable us to predict the release of l-menthol during mastication by measuring the mecha nical properties of a sample.
