Tribological analysis of the surface of food gels

• Evaluated surface of food gels by new tribological analysis.
• Number of rotations increased with torque in the analysis.
• Movements of each gel differed from each other.
• Tribological features of gel surface can be identified using this analysis.

The surface of intact food has a significant influence on its mouthfeel. However, such a surface has rarely been evaluated. In this study, we investigated the surface of food gels via tribological analysis. Agar gel, gellan gum gel, and xanthan/locust bean gum mixed gel were prepared and analyzed. A series of agar gels of different concentrations was initially studied. Although an increase in the torque resulted in an increase in the number of rotations, from 0.01/min to approximately 100/min, for each gel concentration, the rate of change observed for each gel was different. The harder the gel in the agar gelled, the more torque was needed for the movement to occur; however, the torque required was not completely in proportion to the hardness. Gels of identical hardness that were prepared using different gelling agents were also studied. Again, the rate at which the number of rotations changed with respect to torque was different for each gel. Our findings suggest that unique tribological information for gel surfaces can be identified via this new analysis and that this information might be related to mouthfeel.

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