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Active stress during compression testing of various foods measured using a multiple-point sheet sensor
Kaoru Kohyama1, Tomoko Sasaki, Haruka Dan
1National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. kaoruk@nfri.affrc.go.jp
Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry
|August 13, 2003
Summary
A novel multiple-point sheet sensor (MSS) accurately measured food compression, revealing that active stress, considering contact area, better explains food texture than conventional stress.
Area of Science:
- Food science
- Materials science
- Mechanical engineering
Background:
- Traditional food texture analysis often uses conventional stress, calculated by load divided by initial cross-sectional area.
- This method may not fully capture the complex mechanical and geometrical properties perceived during sensory evaluation of food texture.
- Understanding food mechanical properties is crucial for product development and quality control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and validate a multiple-point sheet sensor (MSS) for direct measurement of load and contact area during food compression.
- To compare 'active stress' (load/contact area) with conventional stress in explaining food textural characteristics.
- To investigate the relationship between compression strain and contact area in different food types.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a multiple-point sheet sensor (MSS) to directly measure load and contact area during the compression of four distinct food types.
- Correlated MSS load measurements with those obtained from a universal testing machine.
- Analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in stress distribution on the food sample surface.
Main Results:
- The MSS accurately measured load and contact area, with total load correlating well with universal testing machine data.
- Contact area varied significantly between food types even at low strains and increased with compression.
- Active stress, calculated using the measured contact area, provided a more insightful measure of food textural properties compared to conventional stress.
Conclusions:
- The multiple-point sheet sensor (MSS) offers a direct and accurate method for assessing food mechanical properties during compression.
- Active stress, derived from real-time load and contact area measurements, offers a superior metric for characterizing food texture compared to conventional stress.
- This approach holds promise for advancing objective food texture analysis, particularly under conditions of large deformation.