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 Olfaction, determines the overall flavor of a food item.[
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It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and food rheology.
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.
Qualities perceived
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Chewiness: The sensation of sustained, elastic resistance from food while it is chewed
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Cohesiveness: The degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with molars
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Crunchiness: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed
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Density: The compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars
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Dryness: The degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth
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Exquisiteness: The perceived quality of the item in question
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Fracturability: The force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters – Fracturability encompasses crumbliness, crispiness, crunchiness and .
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Graininess: The degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles
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: The energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing
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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
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Heaviness: The weight of product perceived when first placed on tongue
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Juiciness
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Moisture absorption: The amount of saliva absorbed by product
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Moisture release: The amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample
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Mouthcoating: The type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example, fat/oil)
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Roughness: The degree of of product's surface perceived by the tongue
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Slipperiness: The degree to which the product slides over the tongue
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Smoothness: The absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product
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Meat tenderness: The opposite of hardness; ease of chewing
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Uniformity: The degree to which the sample is even throughout or the homogeneity of the sample
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Uniformity of bite: The evenness of force throughout the bite
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Uniformity of chew: The degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication
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Viscosity: The force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue
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Wetness: The amount of moisture perceived on product's surface
See also
Further reading
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Dollase, Jürgen, Geschmacksschule engl.:, 2005 Tre Tori, Wiesbaden, Germany (). German-language textbook by a renowned food critic covering some, but not all of the above mentionend properties/mouthfeelings.
External links
