Characterization of cake batters by ultrasound measurements

This work was undertaken in order to determine the feasibility of a low intensity ultrasonic sensor to be used in the control of the cake manufacturing process. A set of 27 batters with different oil, egg and sugar contents were elaborated to obtain products with different physical characteristics. The physical properties of batters (density, viscosity and rheology) and cakes (volume, symmetry, volume index, height and density) were correlated with ultrasonic measurements. Significant correlations were obtained between the acoustic impedance and the batter consistency (R2 = 0.53), G″ (R2 = 0.66), and G∗ (R2 = 0.53). The ultrasound measurement provided better correlations with physical properties of cakes than any of the conventional methods of batter measurement. This system has shown an interesting potential for industrial applications, especially in the detection of deficient batters.