Texture testing

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Terms commonly used across different food sectors to describe food attributes include hardness, tenderness, firmness, cohesiveness, springiness, stickiness etc.

The particular methods employed to measure the textural properties of foods can differ significantly from one food group to another, so it is important to select the best method to obtain the most successful accurate food texture measurements.

Animal feed and pet foods plus cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals may also be tested for physical properties correlating to sensory terms: richness, oiliness, greasiness, etc.

The same principles apply to measure their texture, but often with less well-defined texture terms than foods, which have longer established analysis of their texture definitions based on sensory feel in the mouth as opposed to on the skin.

Test types

Further or specific test types in this section

Bulk analysis

A bulk analysis test method is used when it is not practical or representative to test an individual sample as a whole or com

Extrusion

Extrusion testing has many applications within the food, and other industries, for texture assessment.

Penetration and puncture

Penetration testing is very similar to compression testing with one key difference, the penetrometer probe is typically much

Shear

Shear testing is a very popular and valuable test method applicable to food texture analysis.

Tension

Tension methods pull or stretch the test sample, to measure the elasticity and the ultimate strength of the product.

Cooked rice firmness stickiness and adhesiveness

Case study

Rice Texture Analyzer with the compression-shear fixture and texture analysis software

Lipstick shear force resistance

Case study

Lipstick cantilever bend flex and break testing systems

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) finds Materials Science's sweet spot

Case study

Student observes a three-point bend test of an Oreo, part of an in-class laboratory in their Introduction to Materials Science course. Real-time results from the MultiTest are projected in the classroom.

Cooked rice firmness stickiness and adhesiveness

Case study

Cooked rice sample batches of equal weight are loaded into the test cell

Lipstick shear force resistance

Case study

Lipstick shear test results with wire shear texture fixture

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) finds Materials Science's sweet spot

Case study

Cooked rice firmness stickiness and adhesiveness

Lipstick shear force resistance

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) finds Materials Science's sweet spot

Online demonstrations and training available from Mecmesin technical sales engineers

Online test equipment and training demos

As more people are working from home to reduce non-essential travel, our technical sales engineers can provide online equipment demos or training sessions via web-based video calls.

If possible, send in your own samples and our sales team will be able to present your own products being tested.

Get in touch to discuss your requirements and to arrange an online demo or training session.