A review of acoustic research for studying the sensory perception of crisp, crunchy and crackly textures

The relationship that acoustic sensations have with the perception of texture has been studied for crisp, crunchy and crackly products. This has involved evaluating the contribution of chewing sounds to the perception of these textures or recording noises produced during mastication and evaluating various acoustic parameters from the resulting amplitude-time curves. Combining the analysis of acoustic recordings with mechanical testing results has been successful for predicting crispness and crunchiness of snack foods. The next stage for acoustic research should be to relate the structure of the products to the sounds produced during mechanical breakdown of the products in order to fully understand the textural properties of the food. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.