Auditory texture is to large extent synonymous with crispness, crunchiness and crackliness in foods. Crispness has been associated with freshness, brittleness, snapping and sound emission during eating.
Many investigators have tried to measure crispness in foods, using different instrumental methods.
Crisp and/or crunchy foods fall in two categories, namely wet foods and dry foods. Sound generation differs in these two types of foods.
Wet crisp foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables are composed of living cells that turgid if enough water is available. While exposing dry crisp foods, like cookies, crackers, chips and toast to moisture decreases the perceived crispness of the food.
Crispness and crunchiness has proved to be most important texture attribute in determining consumer preferences. As a result, the food industry needs to control this characteristic during processing and storage operations in products where crispness is a primary quality factor.
Studies related to crispness in high moisture products are very limited. Researchers measure the crispness and crunch of food products by setting microphones and recorders to the jaw and measuring the pitch, frequency and intensity of sound as a person eats crispy or crunchy foods.
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The louder the sound, the higher pitched the sound, and the ore frequent the sound, the crispier the food.
Crispness of food
