Q. How do we measure food texture?

Food texture can be evaluated by mechanical test or instrumental methods. This is called as objective evaluation. When we use the human sensory organs as analytical tools, we call it the sensory or subjective evaluation. For the purpose of measurement, however, classification in terms of physical properties has been proposed by Szczesmiac in 1963. This system groups the characteristics as mechanical (hardness, cohesiveness, viscosity, elasticity, adhesiveness), geometrical (particle size, shape and orientation) and others (moisture content, fat content).

Hardness, cohesiveness, viscosity, elasticity and adhesiveness are the mechanical characteristics. What do these characteristics stand for? These characteristics are described in physical terms herewith for your convenience.