science

Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mouthfeel rather than just read about it. In short: Texture refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item.

Key takeaways

Mouthfeel belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mouthfeel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mouthfeel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Texture refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item. Texture is also sometimes referred to as mouthfeel. It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and food rheology. It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate to first bite, through chewing to swallowing and aftertaste. In wine-tasting, for example, texture is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth. Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence satiety with the effect of viscosity most significant. Texture is often related to a product's water activity—hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.

Qualities perceived

Chewiness: The sensation of sustained, elastic resistance from food while it is chewed. Cohesiveness: The degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with molars. Crunchiness: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed Density: The compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars Dryness: The degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth Exquisiteness: The perceived quality of the item in question Fracturability: The force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters – Fracturability encompasses crumbliness, crispiness, crunchiness and brittleness. Graininess: The degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles Gumminess: The energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing Hardness: The force required to deform the product to a given distance, i.e., force to compress between molars, bite through with incisors, compress between tongue and palate Heaviness: The weight of product perceived when first placed on tongue Juiciness Moisture absorption: The amount of saliva absorbed by product Moisture release: The amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample Mouthcoating: The type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example, fat/oil) Roughness: The degree of abrasiveness of product's surface perceived by the tongue Slipperiness: The degree to which the product slides over the tongue Smoothness: The absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product Tenderness: The opposite of hardness; ease of chewing Uniformity: The degree to which the sample is even throughout or the homogeneity of the sample Uniformity of bite: The evenness of force throughout the bite Uniformity of chew: The degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication Viscosity: The force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue Wetness: The amount of moisture perceived on product's surface

See also Food Psychorheology Umami Wine tasting Q. texture

References

Further reading Dollase, Jürgen, Geschmacksschule [engl.: Tasting School], 2005 Tre Tori, Wiesbaden, Germany (ISBN 3937963200). German-language textbook by a renowned food critic covering some, but not all of the above mentionend properties/mouthfeelings. Stokes, Jason R.; Boehm, Michael W.; Baier, Stefan K. (August 2013). "Oral processing, texture and mouthfeel: From rheology to tribology and beyond". Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science. 18 (4): 349–359. doi:10.1016/j.cocis.2013.04.010.

External links Snack Foods and Water Activity Archived 2013-04-13 at the Wayback Machine

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mouthfeel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mouthfeel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mouthfeel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mouthfeel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mouthfeel

In research: Mouthfeel appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mouthfeel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mouthfeel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Characteristics of cheese, Food science, Gustatory system, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mouthfeel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mouthfeel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mouthfeel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mouthfeel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mouthfeel in simple terms?

Why does Mouthfeel matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mouthfeel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mouthfeel.