THE USE OF INTRAORAL LOAD CELLS IN THE STUDY OF TEXTURE-PERCEPTION

A new method to study texture perception is described. Miniaturized lo ad cells were placed in the oral cavity to record the time course of t he bite force. The bites were made during psychophysical tests on hard ness comparison, into products (silicone elastomers) exhibiting simple rheological behaviour. The silicone samples were placed on either sid e of the load cell. The control measurements proved that the recording s under these conditions were stable and reproducible. An analysis of the time course of the curves revealed differences in perception strat egy between the subjects. The use of load cells together with standard ized products allows a better understanding of the relationship betwee n the rheological measurements of a product and the motor activity of the chewing apparatus when the texture of a solid food product is perc eived.