Evaluation of lentil texture measurements by compression testing

The variability in texture for lentils of different size, from different locations and cooked for varying lengths of time was examined in relation to the sample size and the extent to which the sample was compressed during testing. The force to compress the lentils was found to be dependent on all variables examined and also demonstrated significant interactions between these variables. The coefficient of variability was dependent on the size of the lentil, a two-way interaction between sample size and compression and a three-way interaction between location, cooking time and sample size. Regardless of lentil size, location where the lentil was grown and the cooking time used, the variability in the texture readings was lowest when the larger sample size and maximum compression force were used.