RIAN archive 569736 Boy eating a watermelon

Mouthfeel refers to the

physical sensations The sensory nervous system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory neurons (including the sensory receptor cells), neural pathways, and parts of the brain involved in ...

in the mouth caused by

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

, making it distinct from

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall

flavor Flavour or flavor is either the sensory perception of taste or smell, or a flavoring in food that produces such perception. Flavour or flavor may also refer to: Science * Flavors (programming language), an early object-oriented extension to L ...

of a food item. Mouthfeel is also sometimes referred to as texture. It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as

wine-tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

and

food rheology Food rheology is the study of the rheological properties of food, that is, the consistency and flow of food under tightly specified conditions. The consistency, degree of fluidity, and other mechanical properties are important in understand ...

. It is evaluated from initial perception on the

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sep ...

to first

bite Biting is an action involving a set of teeth closing down on an object. It is a common zoological behavior, being found in toothed animals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and arthropods. Biting is also an action humans participate ...

, through

chewing Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by the teeth. It is the first step in the process of digestion, allowing a greater surface area for digestive enzymes to break down the foods. During the mastication proc ...

swallowing Swallowing, also called deglutition or inglutition in scientific and medical contexts, is a physical process of an animal's digestive tract (e.g. that of a human body) that allows for an ingested substance (typically food) to pass from the mou ...

and

aftertaste Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying fea ...

. In wine-tasting, for example, mouthfeel is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth. Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence

satiety Satiety ( /səˈtaɪ.ə.ti/ ''sə-TYE-ə-tee'') is a state or condition of fullness gratified beyond the point of satisfaction, the opposite of hunger. Following satiation (meal termination), satiety is a feeling of fullness lasting until the next ...

with the effect of

viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

most significant. Mouthfeel is often related to a product's

water activity In food science, water activity (''aw'') of a food is the ratio of its vapor pressure to the vapor pressure of water at the same temperature, both taken at equilibrium. Pure water has a water activity of one. Put another way, ''aw'' is the equi ...

—hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.

Qualities perceived

* Chewiness: The sensation of sustained, elastic resistance from food while it is chewed * Cohesiveness: The degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...

Crunchiness Crunchiness is the sensation of muffled grinding of a foodstuff. Crunchiness differs from crispness in that a crisp item is quickly atomized, while a crunchy one offers sustained, granular resistance to jaw action. While crispness is difficult ...

: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed * Density: The compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars * Dryness: The degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth * Exquisiteness: The perceived quality of the item in question * Fracturability: The

force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters – Fracturability encompasses crumbliness,

crispiness Crispiness or crispness is one of the most common food texture attributes. Crispiness refers to a hard food that emits a sound upon fracturing. Foods described as crisp tend not to show signs of deformation prior to fracture. Crispiness and cru ...

, crunchiness and

brittle A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it fractures with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. ...

ness. * Graininess: The degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles *

Gummi Gummies, fruitgums, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Popular types include gummy bears, Sour Patch Kids, Jelly Babies and gummy worms. Various brands such as Bassett's, Hari ...

ness: The

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing * Hardness: The force required to deform the product to a given distance, i.e., force to compress between molars, bite through with incisors, compress between tongue and palate * Heaviness: The

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition. Some sta ...

of product perceived when first placed on tongue * Juiciness * Moisture absorption: The amount of

saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...

absorbed by product * Moisture release: The amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample * Mouthcoating: The type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example,

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

) * Roughness: The degree of

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

ness of product's surface perceived by the tongue * Slipperiness: The degree to which the product slides over the tongue * Smoothness: The absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product * Tenderness: The opposite of hardness; ease of chewing * Uniformity: The degree to which the sample is even throughout or the

homogeneity Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the Uniformity (chemistry), uniformity of a Chemical substance, substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, ...

of the sample * Uniformity of bite: The evenness of force throughout the bite * Uniformity of chew: The degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication *

Viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

: The force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue * Wetness: The amount of moisture perceived on product's surface

References

External links

Snack Foods and Water Activity
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413065335/http://www.aqualab.com/applications/snack-foods-and-water-activity/ , date=2013-04-13 Food science Gustatory system Sensory systems Wine tasting Characteristics of cheese

Qualities perceived

See also

References

Further reading

External links