WCFS Food Summit 2002: Texture Dynamics

The creaminess of a dessert, the crispiness of a biscuit, the melting of ice cream on the tongue are all mouth sensations determined by the texture of the food. Texture related attributes are becoming increasingly important in consumer choice and purchase behaviour.

The Structure and Functionality research team under the Scientific Director Prof. Rob Hamer are studying the relationship between sensory characteristics of foods and the molecular properties and structure of food ingredients. This was the topic of WCFS’ fourth Food Summit held in Wageningen from 11 to 13 April 2002.

This year’s Food Summit, entitled ‘Texture Dynamics’, considered the perception of food texture, the processes in the mouth and brain, and physiochemical properties of foods that trigger such processes. During the three-day meeting, some 45 scientists from 10 countries discussed state-of-the-art research and the research needs for the coming five to ten years including potential breakthroughs in these areas. The keynote addresses by prominent scientists and discussion sessions focused specially on the texture properties needed to create the desired mouth sensations, whether these texture properties can be generated with current technology and what further knowledge is required. How are the food properties that create the desired mouth sensations affected by production, packaging, transport and storage? How do we cope with such constraints and safety issues while still maintaining the sensory properties?

The Food Summit identified long-term needs in fundamental research on the functionality of food structures. Little is known about the oral sensoric perception of food structures such as gels, emulsions, foams and solids, and how these structures can be engineered to trigger desired oral sensoric perceptions. Thus, developing products with more attractive structures is still largely a process of trial and error.

Also, there are individual differences in oral perceptions based on physiology, age, sex and culture, as well as experience and expectation. The challenge is to map the oral sensory receptors related both to food texture and to consumer preferences.

The Food Summit concluded with a number of recommendations. First and foremost, the meeting stressed that research on texture perception should take more account of information on the breakdown of food. Research should aim to connect these aspects of texture directly with perception. This will require a multidisciplinary approach focusing more on real-life situation. In this respect, it was generally agreed that ‘real’ food structures should be used in oral receptor studies because many sensoric properties cannot be obtained in simplified food structures.

For more information on the Food Summit contact WCFS.