What Is Texture?

Appears in

Published 2017

About

Over the course of the years, the way in which food texture has been described has undergone many changes. To add to the confusion, the expressions texture and structure have been used almost interchangeably. Polish-born American food scientist Alina Surmacka Szczesniak is known as a pioneer in the study of texture and how it affects our choice of what to eat. She has tried to define texture, and concomitantly, mouthfeel as:

A sensory quality of food, and consequently, a quality that only a human (or another living being) can recognize and describe. Only certain properties of texture can be measured by physical means and the results of these measurements require a sensory interpretation.
A multifaceted quality that cannot be described by a single parameter, such as hard or creamy.
A quality that depends on the structure of the food at all levels, from the molecular to the microscopic.
A quality that is recognized by several senses, of which touch and pressure are the most important.

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In this section

So Many Words for Texture and Mouthfeel

The Importance of Texture

When People Complain About the Food

Food Reviewers and Mouthfeel

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Texture and Mouthfeel

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