Objective Evaluation of Crispy and Crunchy Textures of Foods by Acoustic Analysis

Abstract

Palatability of foods depends on many factors, such as flavor, texture, and appearance. Textures such as crispness, crunchiness, hardness, and fragility are essential in many foods and evaluated by sensory tests in general. Although food scientists and engineers have attempted objective evaluations of the characteristic textures of different foods, an optimal method for the texture evaluation is yet to be developed. Here, we focused on the theory that texture can be evaluated based on the sound created during mastication. We developed a device mechanically capable of crushing foods. By combining this food crushing device with a method to analyze the crushing sounds, we aimed to construct an objective system for texture evaluation. In this report, we introduce our system and some acoustic analysis results. It is showed that the sounds of food crunched are useful to indicate its crispness objectively.