Characterizing wear behaviors of κ-carrageenan and whey protein gels by numerical modeling

Soft solid foods commonly undergo processing steps such as extrusion, slicing, and shredding. Food tribological behaviors, especially wear behaviors, may be a good indication of their ability to be successfully sliced, shredded, or extruded. However, food wear behaviors are currently unknown. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the wear behavior of gels with different structures using a numerical model. Wear behaviors of whey protein isolate and κ-carrageenan gels were evaluated under several normal forces. An empirical model for penetration depth was developed that accounted for deformation due to applied force and removal of material. All models had mean absolute error <16 μm indicating good fit. κ-carrageenan gels had the greatest penetration depth among the gels tested; whey protein isolate gels had the lowest. These results were attributed to gel microstructural differences.