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Food oral processing depends on food properties and consumer characteristics. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of age, gender, ethnicity and eating capability on oral processing behaviour of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods. Oral processing behaviour of 18 commercially available foods, ranging from liquids, semi-solids to solids, was compared between Dutch, Caucasian adults (18-30 yrs), Chinese, Asian adults (18-30 yrs), Dutch, Caucasian elderly (60-80 yrs), and consumers with mild swallowing problems and/or low mastication efficiency (18-80 yrs). Participants were video recorded during food consumption and six oral processing parameters extracted. Elderly consumed all foods with lower eating rates (g/s) than young adults by increasing consumption time (s). Females consumed solid foods with lower eating rates (g/s) than males by reducing bite size (g). Chinese, Asian consumers consumed liquid and solid foods with lower eating rates (g/s) than Dutch, Caucasian consumers by reducing bites size (g). Chinese, Asian consumers consumed semi-solid foods with lower eating rates (g/s) than Dutch, Caucasian consumers by reducing bite size (g) and increasing consumption time (s). Consumers with decreased mastication efficiency or mild swallowing problems showed similar oral processing behaviour than healthy consumers, probably because reduction in eating capability was limited in the group. This demonstrates that different consumer groups adapt eating rate (g/s) in different ways by modifying bite size (g), consumption time (s) or both. To conclude, age, gender and ethnicity influence oral processing behaviour of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods differently. Understanding differences in oral processing behaviour of specific consumer groups can assist in steering sensory perception, food choice and energy intake of specific consumer groups such as the elderly.

The addition of food particles to food matrices is a convenient approach that allows to steer oral behavior, sensory perception and satiation. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of physical-chemical properties of heterogenous foods on oral processing behavior, bolus properties and dynamic sensory perception. Bell pepper gel pieces varying in fracture stress and concentration were added to processed cream cheese matrices differing in texture. Addition of bell pepper gel pieces to processed cheeses increased consumption time, decreased eating rate and led to harder and less adhesive bolus with more saliva incorporated. Addition of bell pepper gel pieces to processed cheeses decreased dominance rate and duration of creaminess, smoothness, melting and dairy flavor and increased graininess and bell pepper flavor. Increasing fracture stress of bell pepper gel pieces from 100 to 300 kPa resulted in longer consumption time and lower eating rate. For hard/non-adhesive processed cheese matrices increasing gel pieces fracture stress lead to a boli with larger particles and more saliva. These changes were accompanied by decreased dominance perception of creaminess and bell pepper flavor and increased dominance of graininess. Increasing the concentration of bell pepper gel pieces from 15 to 30% did not affect oral behavior but led to the formation of harder and less adhesive bolus with larger particles and less saliva that were perceived with reduced dominance of creaminess, meltiness and dairy flavor while dominance of graininess and bell pepper flavor increased. Changing the texture of the cheese matrix from soft/adhesive to hard/non-adhesive decreased consumption time, increased eating rate, did not influence bolus properties and decreased dominance rate of creaminess, smoothness and melting sensations. Number of chews and total consumption time were positively correlated with saliva content of the bolus, number of bolus particles, bolus hardness, dominance of firmness, chewiness and graininess. We conclude that the modification of physical-chemical properties of processed cheeses and embedded bell pepper gel pieces can be a strategy to steer oral behavior and bolus properties which consequently determine dynamic sensory perception. ispartof: Food Quality And Preference vol:88 pages:1-11 status: Published online

Consumer characteristics such as age, gender and ethnicity influence food oral processing behavior. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of age, gender and ethnicity on consumption time, bolus properties and dynamic sensory perception of sausages. Consumption time, bolus properties (saliva incorporation, particle size distribution and rheological properties) and dynamic texture perception (Temporal Dominance of Sensations, TDS) of sausages were compared between young Dutch, Caucasians (n = 21; 22 ± 2.8 years), young Chinese, Asians (n = 21; 23 ± 1.6 years), and elderly Dutch, Caucasians (n = 22; 70 ± 4.3 years). Elderly Dutch masticated the sausage 22% longer (25.6 s) than young Dutch consumers (21.0 s). Elderly Dutch produced sausage boli that were softer, more adhesive, less cohesive and contained more particles than those of young Dutch adults. Elderly females produced more adhesive and less cohesive sausage bolus than males. Young Chinese females had 75.6% longer consumption time (29.5 s) than young Dutch females (16.8 s). Young Chinese males masticated the sausages in less time (18.8 s) than young Chinese females (29.5 s). Young Chinese produced softer and less cohesive bolus with slightly smaller and more particles than young Dutch. Saliva incorporation and bolus particle size were not affected by age, gender and ethnicity. Mediation analysis revealed that the effect of consumer characteristics such as age, gender and ethnicity on bolus properties was mediated by consumption time. At the beginning and end of consumption time, dynamic texture perception of sausages was similar for all consumer groups and strongly correlated with bolus properties. Differences in dynamic texture perception between consumer groups were observed only during the middle stages of mastication with low dominance rates. We conclude that consumers differing in age, gender and ethnicity vary in oral processing time to produce bolus with textural properties optimized to their needs. Furthermore, consumption time is the underlying mechanism that explains the differences in bolus properties between the consumer groups. While variations in consumption time of sausages lead to considerable differences in bolus properties, it only leads to small differences in dynamic texture perception. This journal is

Little is known about the oral processing behaviour of ice creams for which the quantification of oral manipulations remains challenging. The impact of oral processing behaviour on dynamic sensory perception of ice creams has not been reported previously, although ice creams are anecdotally known to be consumed following different oral processing strategies. The aims of the study were (1) to compare different methodologies to characterise oral behaviours applied during consumption of ice cream, and (2) to understand how oral processing behaviour influences dynamic sensory perception of ice creams. Oral processing behaviour of ice creams was characterized by self-reporting and video recording of n = 103 consumers. Most consumers applied either tongue movements or combined tongue and jaw oral behaviours. The video recording was clearly better than self-reporting in capturing the actually displayed eating behaviour of ice creams. Consumption time was prolonged considerably when ice cream hardness increased or when oral behaviour was changed during Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) evaluations. When ice creams were consumed by letting them melt in mouth, dominance of sweetness and firmness were significantly prolonged. When ice creams were consumed by chewing, dominance of fruity aroma and coldness were significantly prolonged. We conclude that (1) eating behaviour of ice creams is captured better by video recordings than self-reporting and that (2) oral processing behaviour considerably changes dynamic texture and flavour perception of ice creams. This highlights the importance of controlling oral processing behaviour when quantifying sensory properties of ice creams.

Food oral processing plays a key role in sensory perception, consumer acceptance and food intake. However, little is known about the influence of physical food properties on oral processing of different type of food products. The primary objective of this study was to determine the influence of rheological and mechanical properties of foods on oral processing behavior of liquid (drinkable), semi-solid (spoonable) and solid foods (chewable). The secondary objective was to quantify the influence of product liking, frequency of consumption and familiarity on oral processing behavior. Rheological and mechanical properties of 18 commercially available foods were quantified. Parameters describing oral processing behavior such as sip and bite size, consumption time, eating rate, number of swallows, number of chews, cycle duration, and chewing rate were extracted from video recordings of 61 consumers. Subjects evaluated products’ liking, familiarity, and frequency of consumption using questionnaires. Consumers strongly adapted oral processing behavior with respect to bite size, consumption time, and eating rate to the rheological and mechanical properties of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods. This adaptation was observed within each food category. Chewing rate and chewing cycle duration of solid foods were not influenced by mechanical properties and remained relatively constant. Liking, familiarity, and consumption frequency showed to impact oral processing behavior, although to a lower degree than the rheological and mechanical properties of food. We conclude that the oral processing behaviors of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods are mainly determined by their rheological and mechanical properties.

Addition of particles to foods, such as fruit pieces to dairy products or vegetable pieces to soup, is a convenient approach to alter nutritional composition, appearance, perception and acceptance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of addition of peach gel particles to yogurt on oral behavior, sensory perception and liking of consumers differing in age. One homogeneous yogurt and seven yogurts with peach gel particles were prepared. The added peach gel particles varied in size, fracture stress, or concentration. Oral behavior of n = 62 healthy Dutch, young adults (21 ± 2 years) and n = 62 healthy Dutch elderly (70 ± 5 years) participants was characterized by video recordings. Yogurts’ sensory properties and liking were scored on nine-point scales. Elderly consumed yogurts with higher number of chews and longer consumption time leading to lower eating rate than young adults. Addition of particles, regardless of characteristics, increased number of chews, consumption time, and decreased eating rate up to 60% for both consumer groups, with an average decrement of 110 g/min for young and of 63 g/min for elderly consumers. With increasing peach gel hardness and concentration, the number of chews and consumption time increased while eating rate decreased. Peach gel particle size did not affect oral behavior. Sensory perception of yogurts with added peach gel particles was similar for healthy young adult and healthy elderly. Only small differences in sensory perception were observed between the young adults and elderly for flavor attributes, crumbliness, juiciness, and perceived particle size. Similarly, minor differences in liking of a few yogurts with peach pieces were observed between both consumer groups. Thus, healthy ageing seems to affect sensory perception of semi-solid foods to a limited extent only. We conclude that changes in food texture by addition of particles can be used as a strategy to steer eating rate and potentially impact food intake of young adult and elderly consumers while maintaining or enhancing food palatability. Additionally, particle characteristics can be modified to target specific consumer groups that might differ in eating capabilities.