Bi-cyclical instrument for assessing texture profile parameters and its relationship to sensory evaluation of texture

The most popular instrumental imitative test is the Texture Profile Analysis (T.P.A.). It was originated in the General Foods Laboratories (Szczesniak et al. 1963) and adapted to the Instron by Bourne (1978). T.P.A. involves a double compression test that uses flat plates attached to an Instron Universal Testing Machine (I.U.T.M.). Several instrumental parameters can be extracted from the force/deformation curve generated by the test (e.g. hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and chewiness). Recently developed in our laboratory, the Bi-cyclical Instrument for Texture Evaluation (B.I.T.E. master) uses the I.U.T.M. to generate its motion and features a set of artificial dentures as well as a tri-dimensional movement simulating a chewing motion. Five parameters were extracted from the force/deformation curve to evaluate their potential use for the prediction of four sensory attributes (i. e. hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness). Satisfactory univariate nonlinear models (i. e. Fechner and Stevens models) were found for both hardness and springiness. The use of several parameters in nonlinear models showed potential use as predictors of sensory cohesiveness and chewiness.