TEXTURE PROFILE OF HERBAL GEL AFFECTED BY INSTRUMENTAL PARAMETERS AND CORRELATIONS OF INSTRUMENTAL AND SENSORY EVALUATION

Abstract

ABSTRACTHerbal gel is a kind of traditional Chinese food. The study is to set up an instrumental texture assessment based on texture profile analysis (TPA) by (1) studying effect of texture analyzer operation condition including crosshead speed and plunger penetration degree on TPA result and (2) correlating instrument TPA to sensory TPA. A standard interval rating scale composed of foods available in the region was established for sensory TPA evaluation. The results indicate that crosshead speed and plunger penetration degree exhibited different effect on the test results according to target texture attributes. Significant correlations were presented for hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness, respectively, when the testing conditions of crosshead speed at 2.5 mm/s with penetration degree of 30% or 60%, 2 mm/s with 30%, 1.5 mm/s with 50–60% or 1 mm/s with 30–50% were used. For efficiency, crosshead speed of 2.5 mm/s with penetration degree of 60% for TPA is recommended for industrial practice.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSHerbal gel is an ethnic Chinese herbal food which has enjoyed great popularity in southern part of China for a long time. The industrialized version of the traditional herbal gels has been available in the market. Being a gel food, texture is the most important quality feature of herbal gel. Due to the requirement of quality control in mass production, a standardized procedure for texture measurement needs to be set up. This research reveals influence of instrument operating condition on the texture measurement result, and correlation between instrumental and sensory methods of herbal gel texture evaluation, therefore provides a reference for setting up quality control procedure for the industry.