Texture Profile Analysis Method Research Articles

Assessing Mucoadhesion in Polymer Gels: The Effect of Method Type and Instrument Variables.

The process of mucoadhesion has been widely studied using a wide variety of methods, which are influenced by instrumental variables and experiment design, making the comparison between the results of different studies difficult. The aim of this work was to standardize the conditions of the detachment test and the rheological methods of mucoadhesion assessment for semisolids, and introduce a texture profile analysis (TPA) method. A factorial design was developed to suggest standard conditions for performing the detachment force method. To evaluate the method, binary polymeric systems were prepared containing poloxamer 407 and Carbopol 971P®, Carbopol 974P®, or Noveon® Polycarbophil. The mucoadhesion of systems was evaluated, and the reproducibility of these measurements investigated. This detachment force method was demonstrated to be reproduceable, and gave different adhesion when mucin disk or ex vivo oral mucosa was used. The factorial design demonstrated that all evaluated parameters had an effect on measurements of mucoadhesive force, but the same was not observed for the work of adhesion. It was suggested that the work of adhesion is a more appropriate metric for evaluating mucoadhesion. Oscillatory rheology was more capable of investigating adhesive interactions than flow rheology. TPA method was demonstrated to be reproducible and can evaluate the adhesiveness interaction parameter. This investigation demonstrates the need for standardized methods to evaluate mucoadhesion and makes suggestions for a standard study design.

Comparative evaluation of longissimus and semimembranosus muscle characteristics from free-living and farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Lithuania

The aim of the study was to compare characteristics of longissimus dorsi (LD) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles from free-living and farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Lithuania. No significant differences were found either between LD and SM muscles of free-living and farmed red deer or within these muscles of red deer from different environments regarding meat pH and colour parameters. The assessment of meat toughness employing the Warner-Bratzler (WB) method showed the longissimus muscle of free-living deer to be tenderer than the semimembranosus muscle. The TPA (texture profile analysis) method, in contrast to the WB test, showed higher tenderness of the semimembranosus muscle in farmed red deer. The present study revealed only small differences in properties of free-living and farmed red deer meat, i.e. intramuscular fat in the longissimus muscle of free-living red deer had a lower and a more favourable n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio and the semimembranosus muscle a lower content of cholesterol than the respective muscles of farmed deer. Therefore, the meat of free-living red deer could be considered to be more acceptable in terms of healthy nutrition.

A study on the texture diversity of the Artisan Ranchero Cheese from Central Mexico

The objective of the present study was to determine the diversity and causative factors in the textural profile of the Artisan Ranchero Cheese (ARC), a popular soft cheese made with raw cow's milk, which is consumed fresh. These factors included climatic conditions, production zone, cheese supplies, cheesemaking procedure and chemical attributes. Texture attributes were determined using texture profile analysis method. The relationship between texture and chemical attributes of the ARC were determined by a Factor Analysis. An Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering Analysis was used to differentiate the ARC manufactures into groups. Two groups were identified, production zone being the variable which explained the variation in the data. Finally, a Discriminant Analysis was performed to determine standardisation of the ARC attributes through the sampling periods. The 89% of cheese samples were correctly classified into their own cheese manufacture. This last analysis demonstrated that there was an important degree of standardisation of the cheesemaking procedure within each cheese manufacture, something that was not demonstrated before with artisan cheesemakers.

Comparison of the Allo-Kramer Shear and Texture Profile Methods of Broiler Breast Meat Texture Analysis

Two experiments were conducted to compare the Allo-Kramer shear (AK) and the texture profile analysis (TPA) methods of determining objective texture using broiler breast meat. In one experiment broilers obtained from a commercial processing plant were killed by cervical dislocation and one half of the breast muscles, pectoralis (p.) major and p. minor, were either removed immediately (hot boned, HB) or left on the carcass for 24 h prior to removal (chill-boned, CB). The breast meat samples were cooked in steam, and one half of the samples from each treatment were sliced to a constant thickness. Samples from the anterior, middle, and posterior sections were analyzed by Allo-Kramer shear or TPA. A second experiment was conducted identical to the first except that all birds were obtained in the form of ready-to-cook carcasses (conventional processed) from a commercial processing plant, aged 24 h, and effects of the AK and TPA methods on breast halves were compared.Processing treatment (HB vs. CB) was found to significantly affect AK and TPA values, except for values of springiness and cohesiveness. Slicing the p. major appeared to affect the results of the TPA method more than the AK method in both experiments. Both the AK and TPA methods detected differences across muscle locations.