Textural complexity in solid foods & its influence on satiation

Abstract

The term “textural complexity” is a relatively new concept in the study of oral processing and can be related to the number and dynamic progression of individual textures perceived from the first bite, through mastication, to the point of swallow. This thesis aimed to investigate the direct effect of textural complexity on satiation, independent of the oral processing time. The hypothesis of the current study was that the additional sensory stimulation during mastication of texturally complex foods makes a significant contribution to the satiation responses. To investigate this effect, gel-based model foods with “built-in” levels of textural complexity were developed, and their energy density and oral processing time were manipulated as the same. Puncture tests coupled with sensory evaluations were used to quantify the “complexity”. The number of peaks and the length of puncture curves were used as the instrumental proxy for textural complexity due to the correlation between “complexity” and the appearance of puncture curves. A significantly greater number of peaks (p < 0.05) and longer lengths of puncture curves (p < 0.05) were observed in the more complex foods. A greater number of textures were sensed during descriptive sensory analysis, and the terms rated to have a high intensity were those related to the characteristics and textures of the food matrix and inclusions.