Insights into characterizing and producing anisotropic food structures

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Materials Science
• Rheology

Background:

• Food texture significantly impacts consumer acceptance, yet complex anisotropic food matrices remain poorly understood.
• Existing knowledge primarily covers isotropic structures, leaving a gap in characterizing anisotropic systems like grown meat or fiber-reinforced foods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To consolidate the state-of-the-art on anisotropic food structures, their formation (e.g., structured plant proteins), and structure-texture correlations.
• To introduce characteristic terms and properties for differentiating and characterizing anisotropic systems.
• To provide insights into factors influencing the perception of anisotropic food textures.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of current knowledge on anisotropic food structures.
• Analysis of formation mechanisms, particularly for structured plant proteins.
• Development of a framework for characterizing anisotropic systems and their texture-texture relationships.

Main Results:

• Identification of key challenges in characterizing anisotropic food matrices compared to isotropic ones.
• Introduction of novel terminology and properties to facilitate the description of anisotropic food systems.
• Establishment of a foundation for future research into structure-texture dynamics in complex foods.

Conclusions:

• A standardized approach to characterizing anisotropic food structures is needed to advance understanding of texture-texture perception.
• The proposed terms and characteristics will aid further studies on anisotropic systems and their sensory attributes.
• Understanding the mechanistic background of anisotropic texture perception is crucial for food product development.