Mouthfeel Explained

Mouthfeel 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.^{[1] [2]} Mouthfeel is also sometimes referred to as texture.^[2]

It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and food rheology.^[3] It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate to first bite, through chewing to swallowing and aftertaste. In wine-tasting, for example, mouthfeel is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth.^[4] Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence satiety with the effect of viscosity most significant.^[5]

Mouthfeel 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.^[6]

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
• 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

Further reading

• Dollase, Jürgen, Geschmacksschule [engl.: Tasting School], 2005 Tre Tori, Wiesbaden, Germany . 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.. Oral processing, texture and mouthfeel: From rheology to tribology and beyond. Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science. August 2013. 18. 4. 349–359. 10.1016/j.cocis.2013.04.010. free.

External links

• Snack Foods and Water Activity

Notes and References

1. Book: Mouritsen. Ole G.. Styrbæk. Klavs. Mouthfeel: How Texture Makes Taste. 2017. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-54324-8.
2. Guinard. Jean-Xavier. Mazzucchelli. Rossella. The sensory perception of texture and mouthfeel. Trends in Food Science & Technology. July 1996. 7. 7. 213–219. 10.1016/0924-2244(96)10025-X.
3. Web site: Goodwin. Lindsey. Mouthfeel Defined. The Spruce. 14 January 2018. 26 December 2017.
4. Book: Dollase. Jürgen. Geschmacksschule. 2005. Tre Torri Verlag. Wiesbaden, Germany. 978-3-937963-20-4. de.
5. Stribiţcaia. Ecaterina. Evans. Charlotte E. L.. Gibbons. Catherine. Blundell. John. Sarkar. Anwesha. 2020-07-31. Food texture influences on satiety: systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports. en. 10. 1. 12929. 10.1038/s41598-020-69504-y. 2045-2322. 7395742. 32737349. 2020NatSR..1012929S .
6. Katz. E. E.. Labuza. T. P.. Effect of Water Activity on the Sensory Crispness and Mechanical Deformation of Snack Food Products. Journal of Food Science. March 1981. 46. 2. 403–409. 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb04871.x.