The role of mechanical properties of brittle airy foods on the masticatory performance

This work investigates the mastication of two samples of typical cereal food products previously characterised by different sensory, textural and mechanical properties, by two complementary approaches. Electromyographic records and image analysis of chewed food particles first confirm the importance of the brittle behaviour of the products on human mastication. For both products, the fragmentation is followed by a significant agglomeration after less than 10 chewing cycles, both phenomena being correlated to the force magnitude and its evolution. Then, artificial mastication is undertaken to shed more light on the capability of the chewing simulator to discriminate both products under dry mastication conditions. The results depict a qualitative agreement with human mastication and texture properties.