It is a collective term of sensory experiences originated from visual, audio and tactile stimuli. The sensation of food texture plays a crucial role in influencing consumers’ liking and preference of a food product.
The tactile sense (touch) is the primary method for sensing texture but kinesthetics (sense of movement and position) and some-times sight (degree of slump, rate of flow), and sound (associated with crisp, crunchy and crackly textures) are also used to evaluate texture.
People perception of food texture often constitutes a criterion by which they judge its quality and is frequently an important factor in whether they select an item or reject it.
Textural parameters of food especially fruits and vegetables are perceived with the sense of touch, either when the product is picked up by hand or placed in the mouth and chewed. In contrast to flavor attributes, these characteristics are fairly easily measured using instrumental methods. Most plant materials contain a significant amount of water and other liquid-soluble materials surrounded by a semi-permeable membrane and cell wall.
Texture can be expressed in the sounds which foods make when handled, to the extent that we listen to foods to estimate their quality e.g the sound of a melon when it is tapped. Familiarity with a product brings knowledge about how its texture and behavior changes during processing and storage.
Food
texture and perception
