Abstract
Quantitative Ultrasound techniques are good candidates for the in situ and real-time mechanical characterization of tongue-food-palate system, and thus to improve the understanding of the determinants of texture perception of food. Different model foods (consisting in gels and emulsion filled gels composed of agar and/or gelatin) have been designed for their contrasting properties in terms of texture perceptions. Prior to the feasibility study of a Quantitative Ultrasound method to monitor their mechanical breakdown during a compression, the aim of this study is to determine the respective roles of structure and mechanical properties of the different model foods in the variations of ultrasonic wave properties. Ultrasonic velocity, reflectivity, and attenuation were monitored during the sol-gel transition (from 50°C to 20°C) at 1 MHz in pulse-echo mode, and were confronted to visco-elastic moduli and mass density measurements. The results put in evidence the role of biopolymer concentration (independently from Young’s and shear moduli) on the variations of velocity and reflectivity, resulting from joint variations of mass density and bulk modulus. Moreover, the ultrasonic attenuation was confirmed to depend on molecular relaxation phenomena of water, which are important in high-concentration gelatin samples.
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