Multiple dimensional approach for oral texture perception of cooked meat products

The aim of this work was to evaluate texture perception in five cooked meat products with different compositions, using a multidimensional approach, combining mechanical, spectroscopic, imaging, and sensory techniques. Tribological properties were also investigated to assess their ability to describe mouthfeel in soft-solid products. Mechanical properties were determined using texture profile analysis (TPA) and tribology measurements, with and without artificial saliva. For microstructure analysis, confocal laser scanning microscopy images were analyzed using Gray Level co-occurrence matrix for textural and morphostructural digital image analysis. Protein structure was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Sensory analysis was performed using the Temporal Dominance of Sensation test with a trained panel. For all products, the tribology curves exhibited two regimes corresponding to boundary and mixed. Patties presented the highest value for the coefficients of friction at 200 mm/s (0.443), with the lowest values observed for ham (0.263) and mixed sausage (0.2). There were no significant differences between the methods. For textural parameters from microscopy images, Shannon entropy values were below 6.8 for all meat products. Moreover, the emulsified and mixed sausages presented the highest α-helix proportions, corresponding to 27.5 % and 25.8 %, respectively. Hardness and juiciness were identified as the most important texture attributes across all cooked meat products, a finding that was further explored through tribological, image and texture analysis. Strong intercorrelations were observed between instrumental TPA and digital image parameters, as well as the proportions of α-helix and β-sheet structures, demonstrating the link between structural and mechanical properties.