Mouthfeel refers to the

physical sensations The sensory nervous system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory neurons (including the sensory receptor cells), neural pathways, and parts of the brain involved i ...

in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item. Mouthfeel is also sometimes referred to as texture. It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as

wine-tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

and

food rheology Food rheology is the study of the rheological properties of food, that is, the consistency and flow of food under tightly specified conditions. The consistency, degree of fluidity, and other mechanical properties are important in understandi ...

. It is evaluated from initial perception on the

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separ ...

, to first

bite Biting is a common zoological behavior involving the active, rapid closing of the jaw around an object. This behavior is found in toothed animals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, but can also exist in arthropods. Myocytic co ...

, through

chewing Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, th ...

to swallowing and

aftertaste Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying f ...

. 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. Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence satiety with the effect of

viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inte ...

most significant. Mouthfeel is often related to a product's

water activity Water activity (''aw'') is the partial vapor pressure of water in a solution divided by the standard state partial vapor pressure of water. In the field of food science, the standard state is most often defined as pure water at the same tempe ...

—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: Degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

. * Crunchiness: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed. *Density: Compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars. * Dryness: Degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth. * Exquisiteness: Perceived quality of the item in question. * Fracturability: Force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters. Fracturability encompasses crumbliness,

crispiness Crispiness or crispness is one of the most common food texture attributes. Crispiness refers to a hard food that emits a sound upon fracturing. Foods described as crisp tend not to show signs of deformation prior to fracture. Crispiness and crunc ...

, crunchiness and

brittle A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it fractures with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. Br ...

ness. * Graininess: Degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles. *

Gummi Gummies, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Gummi bears, Sour Patch Kids, and Jelly Babies are widely popular and are a well-known part of the sweets industry. Gummies are availab ...

ness:

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing. * Hardness: 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:

Weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

of product perceived when first placed on tongue. * Moisture absorption: Amount of saliva absorbed by product. * Moisture release: Amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample. * Mouthcoating: Type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example,

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

). * Roughness: Degree of

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

ness of product's surface perceived by the tongue. * Slipperiness: Degree to which the product slides over the tongue. * Smoothness: Absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product. * Uniformity: Degree to which the sample is even throughout;

homogeneity Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the Uniformity (chemistry), uniformity of a Chemical substance, substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in compos ...

. * Uniformity of bite: Evenness of force through bite. * Uniformity of chew: Degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication. *

Viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inte ...

: Force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue. * Wetness: Amount of moisture perceived on product's surface.

References

External links

Snack Foods and Water Activity
Food science Gustatory system Sensory systems Wine tasting Characteristics of cheese

Qualities perceived

See also

References

Further reading

External links