Correlating instrumental measurements and sensory perceptions of foods with different textural properties for people with impaired oral and swallowing capabilities - A review

Abstract

The rising global life expectancy has underlined the necessity of designing novel and tasty food products, suitable for seniors and people with impaired oral and swallowing functions. For developing these products, texture should be optimised from rheological, colloidal, tribological, and masticatory points of view. The current review provides an overview of different studies based on shear rheological, tribological, and in vitro mastication properties of model or real food systems intended for the elderly and/or people with swallowing dysfunctions, with special emphasis on the relation between the instrumental measurements and sensory perceptions of foods. Several works demonstrated that instrumental data from shear rheological and tribological tests complement the sensory evaluations of foods, providing useful information when designing food commodities for specific populations. Conversely, only few works correlated the instrumental data obtained from artificial mouths and/or simulated masticators with the sensory attributes generated by trained assessors. Broaden knowledge of these topics will help in formulating and adapting foods with enhanced functionalities for people with impaired oral and swallowing capabilities. Shear rheology, soft oral tribology, and simulated mastication tests are crucial in designing safe- and easy-swallowing food products.

Keywords: Food texture; Hydrocolloids; Sensory analysis; Shear rheology; Simulated mastication assays; Tribology.