Department of Food Science Essay

According to Stable Micro Ltd. (2013), â€Å"Texture analysis is the mechanical testing of food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, adhesives and other consumer products either in compression or in tension. The TA. XTplus Texture Analyser assesses textural properties by capturing force, distance and time data at a rate of up to 500 points per second which is then displayed by fully integrated Exponent 32-bit software†. Characterization of food texture commonly falls into two main groups, based on sensory and instrumental methods of analysis. Sensory analysis includes of the senses of smell, taste, sound and touch. Evaluation of food texture by touch includes the use of fingers, as well as the lips, tongue, palate and teeth in the mouth. Strain is one of the rheological quantity associated with deformation which a measure of the relative displacement between the particles of a material. TA. XT2 texture analyser can be used to measure the strain, the change in length per unit length. The other quantity that being measured is a stress, a measure of force concentration on a material. Stress is the force per unit area that its magnitude be expressed in pascals. The variety of probes and fixtures for TA. XT2texture analyser which based on empirical principles may be classified according the type of action involved. As examples, compression, puncture and penetration, cutting and shearing, extrusion, tension, fracture and bending or snapping and adhesion. REFERENCES: Stable Micro Ltd. (2013). THE WORLD STANDARD FOR TEXTURE ANALYSIS. Stable Micro Systems. Retrieved from http://www. stablemicrosystems. com/frameset. htm? http://www. stablemicrosystems. com/taxtplus2. htm