Articulo De Alimentos

Review

Approaches to analysis and modeling texture in fresh and processed

foods – A review

Lan Chen a,b, Umezuruike Linus Opara b,⇑

a School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

b Postharvest Technology Research Laboratory, South African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 27 December 2012

Received in revised form 14 June 2013

Accepted 17 June 2013

Available online 27 June 2013

Keywords:

Food texture

Texture profile analysis

Texture modeling

Texture index

Food quality

a b s t r a c t

Texture analysis and modeling are important techniques in food and postharvest research and industrial

practice. A wide range of methods have been used to evaluate instrumental results, which provide timeseries

data of product deformation, thereby allowing a wide range of texture attributes to be calculated

from force–time or force–displacement data. Several indices of texture such as the firmness index,

crunchiness index and texture index based on ‘‘vibration energy density’’ have been reported, but these

are not widely used to quantify food texture. Some modeling and statistical approaches have been

adopted to analyze food texture data, including chemical reaction kinetics and the Michaelis–Menton

type decay function, mechanistic autocatalytic models based on logistic equation, and the finite element

method. However, increasing demand for comprehensive approaches to texture profile analysis, generalized

texture indices and fundamental texture models still remain challenges in the food research and

industry.

 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

2. Texture profile analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

2.1. Profile analysis of mechanical measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

2.2. Profile analysis of acoustic measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

2.3. Advantages and limitations of texture profile analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

3. Texture indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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