Texture is an important sensory attribute that drives consumer acceptance of any food material. In recent times consumers' demand for high-quality food urges food industries to provide food with consistent textural properties. However, texture measurement not just requires a trained sensory panel but also a considerable amount of time and effort. On the flip side, human observation could be subjective hence repeatability of the result may not be ensured and/or relied on. Contrary to that, objective methods for texture measurement are reliable and consistent, but are not suitable for in-line application and also destructive in nature. The mentioned crisis has made industries opt for nondestructive texture analysis techniques. In the past decade, considerable research has been carried out on nondestructive texture analysis methods such as micro-deformation, and acoustic and optical techniques, showing feasibility for in-line applications. The current review focuses on the working principles and most recent applications of nondestructive techniques for texture analysis of food products. Moreover, a detailed review of contact and noncontact-type texture measurement has been presented in this article. The literature survey is concluded with future research aspects and challenges involved in the commercialization of the nondestructive texture analysis techniques.
Keywords: acoustic techniques; micro-deformation; nondestructive techniques; optical techniques; texture.
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