JP2019052901A - Method for evaluating texture of food - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method for quantitatively evaluating the texture of food, which has been mainly evaluated by a sensory evaluation.SOLUTION: A quantitative evaluation correlated to a sensory evaluation is performed by measuring the total times for eating and mastication of a sample by a subject; and acquiring the ratio of the mastication time to the total eating time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for quantitatively evaluating food texture.

  In recent years, consumer preferences for food have been diversified, and as an element to evaluate the deliciousness of food, along with the taste and aroma, the texture of the food, the chewing comfort, the sense of unity in the oral cavity, the solid feeling, the mouth feel, There are a wide variety of touches and throats.

Conventionally, food texture such as the texture and chewing feeling of food has been measured by evaluating the physical characteristics of the food using an analyzer such as a viscometer or a texture analyzer.
In recent years, an actual eating act (chewing or swallowing), a change in food over time, and an evaluation method taking into account factors in the oral cavity have been disclosed, and a method for evaluating food in more detail from various aspects has been studied. Specifically, the texture is quantitatively and objectively estimated and evaluated by calculating the ratio of the amount of muscle activity of the masticatory muscle during the processing time to the amount of muscle activity of the masticatory muscle at the maximum occlusion (Patent Document) 1) A method for objectively and physiologically evaluating food texture by measuring mandibular movement and tongue movement by measuring myoelectric potentials of the left and right masseter muscles and the suprahyoid muscle group of the subject (Patent Document 2) and the like are disclosed.

JP, 2006-52516, A JP 2012-139442 A

  However, in the prior art, there is room for improvement because the correlation between the sensory evaluation of the texture when the food is actually chewed and the measured value regarding the physical properties of the obtained food is low.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a texture evaluation method in which the correlation between measured values related to sensory evaluation of food texture and physical identification of food is enhanced.

  The present inventors have repeatedly studied the above problems, measured the total eating time and mastication time of the sample by the subject, and obtained the ratio of the mastication time to the total eating time, thereby obtaining a sensory evaluation and good texture The present invention was completed by obtaining the knowledge that quantitative evaluation with a good correlation can be made.

The present invention relates to a food texture evaluation method having the following aspects.
Item 1)
A texture evaluation method for quantitatively evaluating the texture of foods that require chewing in eating,
A texture evaluation method characterized by acquiring a ratio of chewing time to total eating time of a sample by a subject.
Item 2)
Item 2. The texture evaluation method according to Item 1, wherein the measurement of total eating time and mastication time is obtained by measuring myoelectric potential.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the food texture, and the content of the evaluation has a good correlation with the sensory evaluation of the food texture.

  The present invention is capable of quantitative evaluation having a good correlation with sensory evaluation by measuring the total eating time and mastication time of a sample by a subject and obtaining the ratio of the mastication time to the total eating time. It is.

  Foods that can be evaluated for texture according to the present invention are foods that require chewing during eating. Specifically, ice cream, lacto ice, iced milk, frozen desserts such as ice confectionery, gel foods such as jelly, pudding, apricot tofu, dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, butter, margarine, mango, pear, muscat, grapes Fruits such as apples, bananas, melons, peaches, vegetables such as carrots, onions, cucumbers, eggplant, cabbage, lettuce, leek, peppers, grains such as rice, wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, red beans, beef , Meat such as pork, poultry, goat meat, lamb, seafood such as salmon, salmon, sword fish, salmon, salmon, salmon, shrimp, scallop, salmon, clams, gummy, cookies, biscuits, snacks, chocolate, candy , Cakes and other confectionery, candy, noodles, cereals, bars, kamaboko, processed foods such as tablets, or a combination of these Goods can be exemplified.

  These foods are generally available, and the utility of the present invention is that the food texture of such foods can be quantitatively evaluated.

  By quantitatively evaluating the texture of food, not only is it hard and soft, but also quantitatively evaluates how closely the texture of a jelly that mimics a fruit approximates that of a real fruit. Is possible.

  The ratio of total eating time and chewing time will also provide an indicator of how easy the food is to be swallowed by how much the measured food must be chewed before swallowing . It can be seen that foods with high values are foods that are difficult to dissolve at the oral cavity temperature and saliva that require chewing until just before swallowing. On the other hand, it can be seen that a food with a low value does not require much chewing until it can be swallowed and has a long residence time in the mouth. For example, a food with a high value is a food with a high feeling of mass, a feeling of solidness, a feeling of cohesion, a feeling of fiber, a feeling of chewing, a feeling of mouthfeel, or a feeling of body. Therefore, foods with low values can be evaluated as foods with good “feeling of mouthfeel” and “feeling of mouthfeel”.

  The measurement values obtained by the texture evaluation method of the present invention include the “total eating time” from when the subject contained food in the mouth and started mastication until swallowing, It is the “chewing time” until the end. In other words, the total eating time can be defined as the duration from the time when chewing is started (at the start of mastication) to the time when swallowing is completed (at the end of swallowing) after taking food into the oral cavity. It can be defined as the duration from the start of chewing to the end of mastication (end of mastication). The end of mastication is always earlier than the end of swallowing, so the mastication time is shorter than the total eating time. This is done during the period from the end of chewing to the end of post-swallowing, as it is used to collect chewed foods into a bolus that is easy to swallow, to feel the mouthfeel and taste lingering throughout the mouth, or to be swallowed. Yes. For example, a food with a high proportion of chewing time in the eating time has a “chunky” texture that takes time to chew, and can be easily made into a bolus so that it can be swallowed as soon as chewing is finished It can be inferred that it has a good sense of unity. On the other hand, foods with a low ratio of chewing time to total eating time are hard enough to chew without taking time to chew, have a good mouthfeel and mouthfeel, and are swallowed. It can be inferred that the food can enjoy these textures before.

  The total eating time and chewing time can be measured by measuring the time from the start of mastication to the end of mastication or the end of swallowing by the subject himself with a stopwatch, or by a measurer using other mechanical methods. Can be mentioned. The subject may inform the measurer of the time until the start of mastication, the end of mastication, or the end of swallowing with a cue such as a hand switch, raised hand, or bell, and the cueing method is not limited. In addition, by attaching a microphone to the subject's throat and recording the sound or vibration at the time of eating, the mastication start time, the mastication end time, and the swallowing end time can be measured.

  Alternatively, a method for measuring myoelectric potential by attaching surface electrodes to either or both of the left and right masseter muscles of the subject as described in Patent Document 1 may be used. In this case, the mastication start time is the moment when the first masseter signal appears after food is put in the mouth (the first masseter signal almost always appears at the start of mastication), and the end of mastication is the last. It is the moment when the masseter signal for mastication disappears, and the end of swallowing can be defined as the moment when the last masseter signal disappears during swallowing. Moreover, as a method of measuring the end point of swallowing, it can be measured not only by the masseter muscle but also by measuring the myoelectric potential of muscles related to feeding such as the suprahyoid muscle group. The measurement can be performed by only one of the above methods or can be performed by using a plurality of methods in combination, but the preferred measurement method is myoelectric potential measurement.

The ratio of the chewing time in the total eating time obtained above is calculated as the mastication ratio based on Equation 1.
(Formula 1)
Chewing rate (%) = chewing time / total eating time x 100

At this time, the total eating time indicates the duration from the start of mastication to the end of swallowing, and the mastication time indicates the duration from the start of mastication to the end of mastication.

In the present invention, the texture is evaluated with the value of the mastication ratio.
As an example of the evaluation method, the case where the texture evaluation of frozen fruits and frozen confectionery simulating the texture of frozen fruits is performed will be described.

  As a procedure of the evaluation method, first, the above-mentioned chewing ratio is acquired as information on frozen fruits. Next, the chewing rate of the simulated frozen dessert is obtained, and the texture is evaluated by comparing the numerical values of the chewing rate of both. As specific evaluation, when the numerical value of the chewing ratio of the simulated frozen confectionery is high, it is understood that the “feeling of clumping” is high and the texture is soft. Moreover, when the numerical value is low, it is understood that the mouthfeel is a soft texture with a good mouthfeel. Furthermore, when developing a jelly imitating a frozen fruit, the numerical values of the two were compared. It can be judged that it is.

That is, the present invention provides not only a texture evaluation method but also a standard for evaluating how close the texture of food is to a frozen fruit and a frozen jelly simulating it.
If the numerical value of the above-mentioned chewing ratio is close, it can be proved from the correlation between the frozen fruit and the sensory evaluation of the frozen dessert that the food has an approximate texture.
It was confirmed that the numerical value obtained by the mastication ratio and the sensory evaluation actually obtained by eating food had a good correlation, and the present invention was completed.

Myoelectric signal waveform indicating the start of mastication, the end of mastication and the end of swallowing Mastication ratio and sensory evaluation graph

  Hereinafter, the content of the present invention will be specifically described based on the following examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the formulation, the unit was “part by mass” unless otherwise specified.

In this example, myoelectric potential measurement was used to measure chewing time and the like.
<Measurement procedure>
1) A twin electrode was used for the measurement of myoelectric potential. Bipolar electrodes were attached to the left and right masseter muscles of the subjects. A throat microphone was attached to the skin surface near the larynx for measuring swallowing sound.
2) The potential difference generated when the subject chewed the sample was measured with an electrode, amplified with an amplifier, captured using the MP-150 system, and recorded as a waveform along with the elapsed time (waveform analysis software: Biopac Systems) AcqKnowledge). In addition, the swallowing sound obtained from the throat microphone was also recorded as a waveform by the MP-150 system. A hand switch was used at the start of chewing, at the end of chewing, and at the end of swallowing.
3) From the myoelectric potential signal waveform (FIG. 1) obtained in the above step 2), the total feeding time and mastication time were measured.
・ Total feeding time: The time from the start of mastication is the time when the first EMG signal appears, the time of end of swallowing is the time when the EMG signal from the last swallowing disappears, and the duration from the start of mastication to the end of swallowing Was the total feeding time.
-Mastication time: The time point at which mastication was completed was defined as the time point at which the myoelectric potential signal disappeared during the last mastication, and the duration from the above-mentioned mastication start point to the end point of mastication was defined as mastication time.
The myoelectric potential signal due to mastication and the myoelectric potential signal due to swallowing can be distinguished from the swallowing sound and hand switch signal measured simultaneously.
4) The ratio of the mastication time in the total eating time measured was calculated as the mastication ratio, and graphed together with the evaluation value (100 points maximum) of the sensory evaluation performed simultaneously (FIG. 2).

<Example>
The following samples were evaluated based on the above-mentioned procedure by three test subjects (healthy toothed jaw men 2 men, 1 woman average age 26.3 years old).
・ Ice bar (commercially available) ... apple-flavored ice cream
・ Frozen mango (after 5 minutes of thawing): Mango fruit cut into 5g size, frozen, and thawed at room temperature for 5 minutes ・ Mango ice (commercially available) ... Stick with a texture similar to that of frozen mango Ice cream. Contains at least 25% mango juice.
-Frozen mango jelly: A frozen mango jelly prepared based on the prescription in Table 1. A frozen jelly with a texture similar to that of frozen mango.
・ Frozen muscat (after 5 minutes of thawing): frozen muscat fruit and thawed at room temperature for 5 minutes ・ Frozen muscat jelly: frozen muscat jelly prepared based on the formulation in Table 2. A frozen jelly with a texture similar to that of frozen Muscat.
・ Frozen pear (compost 2 minutes after thawing) ... A pear (comport) cut to 5g size, frozen, and thawed at room temperature for 2 minutes ・ Frozen pear jelly ... Prepared based on the formulation in Table 3 Frozen jelly. Frozen jelly with a texture close to that without a frozen ocean.

<Measurement 1>
Each subject included the sample in his / her mouth, and freely chewed and swallowed. Based on the total eating time and the chewing time obtained by the series of operations, the ratio of chewing (the ratio of the chewing time to the total eating time) was calculated and shown in Table 4.

<Measurement 2>
Simultaneously with measurement 1, each subject performed sensory evaluation based on the following criteria. The results are shown in Table 5.

  Criteria for sensory evaluation values: Based on the VAS method, the “feel of clumping” of each sample was evaluated. When eating, a solid texture is strong and those that feel long are high, and conversely, those that do not feel solid texture are evaluated low. In addition, the evaluation of the clumping feeling is that the solid texture is strong when eating, the long-lasting texture is "high clumpy feeling", and the solid texture that immediately disappears is "low clumping feeling" Be evaluated. Examples of foods with a high “feeling of clump” include caramel and the like, and examples of low foods include ice and gelatin jelly.

<Result>
FIG. 2 shows a graph of the chewing ratios in Table 4 and the sensory evaluation values in Table 5.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, according to the texture evaluation method of the present invention, the value of the chewing rate and the sensory evaluation value are correlated.
A high mastication value means that the sample in the mouth is chewed until just before it is swallowed. In order to swallow, the sample is a “chunk” with repeated chewing, or repeated chewing Therefore, it can be evaluated that it has a “chewing feeling” for enjoying the texture.
Also, by evaluating together with the sensory evaluation value on the horizontal axis of the graph, for example, the plots of frozen muscat (after 5 minutes after thawing) and frozen muscat jelly are close to each other, so the texture of both is very similar Can be determined. In such a case, the present invention can be used as an evaluation method when preparing a jelly resembling a real muscat.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is difficult to evaluate a feeling such as a feeling of clumping or a solid feeling at the time of food intake by a conventional instrument measurement method, and there is no objective and quantitative evaluation method. It was. By using the evaluation method according to the present invention, it is possible to evaluate and compare the texture such as a clump of food on the market, and it can be used effectively when investigating consumer needs and trends. It is also an index in the design of new foods.
In addition, the texture is strongly related to the texture of the fruit, and how close is the simulated fruit meat food (simulated pulp jelly, etc.) prepared to simulate the texture of the fruit to the texture of the fruit itself It can also be used as an index to evaluate

Claims (2)

A texture evaluation method for quantitatively evaluating the texture of foods that require chewing in eating,
A texture evaluation method characterized by acquiring a ratio of chewing time to total eating time of a sample by a subject. The texture evaluation method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of total eating time and mastication time is performed by measuring myoelectric potential.