The determining role of bolus rheology in triggering a swallowing

Swallowing is the final stage of an eating process. Even though individuals know exactly when and how to swallow, the controlling mechanisms and the determining criteria of bolus swallowing are still not yet clear. One hypothesis is that bolus rheology, i.e. its flow-ability and stretch-ability, determines the triggering of a swallowing and the main aim of this work was to test this hypothesis. A wide range of fluid foods, including 18 commercial products and 10 lab-constituted foods, were examined for easiness of swallowing by a panel of 19 subjects. Oral residence time, defined as the time from the ingestion till the completion of swallowing, was determined for each eating process. It was observed that the oral residence time had a linear relationship with the sensed difficulty of swallowing. That is a food sensed difficult-to-swallow tends to stay longer in the oral cavity. Rheological properties (both shear and stretching flow) of these foods and their simulated boluses (mixture of food and simulated saliva) have also been determined at body temperature. The apparent shear viscosity showed a positive correlation with the sensed difficult of swallowing. However, the stretching behaviour of a fluid food, characterised by the maximum stretching force and the work of stretching showed much improved correlation to the sensory perceived easiness of swallowing. It was concluded that bolus rheology, in particular its extensional stretch-ability, had the most important influence on the ease of swallowing.     

Formation of nanoemulsions stabilized by model food-grade emulsifiers using high-pressure homogenization: Factors affecting particle size

Nanoemulsions are finding increasing utilization in the food and beverage industries for certain applications because of their unique physicochemical and functional properties: high encapsulation efficiency; low turbidity; high bioavailability; high physical stability. In this study, we examined the impact of system composition and homogenization conditions on the formation of nanoemulsions using a high-pressure homogenizer (microfluidizer). The mean particle diameter decreased with increasing homogenization pressure and number of passes, with a linear log–log relationship between mean particle diameter and homogenization pressure. The minimum droplet diameter that could be produced after 6 passes at 14 kbar depended strongly on emulsifier type and concentration: SDS < Tween 20 < β-lactoglobulin < sodium caseinate. Small-molecule surfactants formed smaller droplets than proteins, which was attributed to their ability to rapidly adsorb to the droplet surfaces during homogenization. The impact of phase viscosity was examined by using different octadecane-to-corn oil ratios in the oil phase and different glycerol-to-water ratios in the aqueous phase. The minimum droplet size achievable decreased as the ratio of disperse phase to continuous phase viscosities (η_D/η_C) decreased for SDS-stabilized emulsions, but was relatively independent of η_D/η_C for β-lactoglobulin-stabilized emulsions. At low viscosity ratios, much smaller mean droplet diameters could be achieved for SDS (d ∼ 60 nm) than for β-lactoglobulin (d ∼ 150 nm). The information reported in this study will facilitate the rational design of food-grade nanoemulsions using high-pressure homogenization methods.     

Rheological properties of Salecan as a new source of thickening agent

Salecan is a novel soluble glucan produced by Agrobacterium sp. ZX09, displaying the ability to inhibit pancreatic amylase and reduce postprandial glucose. The research here provides an investigation of the rheological properties of Salecan solution over a wide range of shear rate (0.001–1000 s⁻¹), frequency (0.1–100 rad/s), concentrations (0.3%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%), temperature (5–95 °C) and pH (1.0–13.0). The power law model well described the rheological behavior of the solutions, in the shear-thinning region, with high determination coefficients, R². Salecan solutions showed a non-Newtonian viscosity behavior at all concentrations and temperatures. The solutions exhibited excellent stability below 55 °C. Viscosities were not affected after being frozen (−20 °C). Over a wide pH range from 6.0 to 12.0, the viscosity almost kept invariant. With increasing frequency, the storage and loss moduli G′ and G″ of Salecan solution increased and complex viscosities decreased continuously, which showed an elastic behaviour. All data indicated that Salecan has excellent rheological properties and could be utilized in food industry as a new source of thickening agent.     

Effect of shear thinning on aspiration – Toward making solutions for judging the risk of aspiration

Polysaccharide solutions containing a contrast medium were prepared so that their viscosity at 50 s⁻¹, which was reported as a shear rate in the oral cavity, is the same but different at other shear rates. Preparation procedure of such solutions based on heat treatment using widely used polysaccharides in foods is described, and the rheological properties of these solutions are discussed in relation with flow behaviours in the swallowing process. Videofluorographic observation was performed for healthy persons and patients and compared with rheological characteristics of these solutions to understand the mechanism of aspiration. It was shown that the degree of aspiration depended on the degree of shear thinning of polysaccharide solutions. This study showed the possibility to find what kind of fluid induces the aspiration and to reduce the risk of aspiration in dysphagic patients by controlling the food rheology.     

高压上浆工艺指标的定量定性研究

通过对高压上浆浆液含固率、压出加重率、压出回潮率、压浆力及浆液粘度等工艺指标的分析研究 ,提出了高压力、高浓度和低粘度各指标的量化标志和范围 ,分别分析了压力、浓度、粘度的影响因素 ,并给出了在一定条件下三种工艺指标相应的计算公式。     

部分糊化淀粉浆液黏度与浆液性能相关性分析

探讨部分糊化淀粉浆液黏度对浆液性能影响的规律。以玉米淀粉为原料,采用蒸汽升温方式分别在62℃~67℃制备了6种不同黏度的部分糊化淀粉浆液,对浆液的黏度、糊化度、结晶度、粒径和膨胀势进行测试,并应用SPSS统计软件的相关分析与线性回归分析功能对测试结果进行了相关性分析。结果表明:部分糊化淀粉浆液的黏度与结晶度呈负相关,结晶度随黏度的增大而降低;黏度与平均粒径、膨胀势呈极显著正相关,平均粒径和膨胀势值均随黏度的增加而明显增大;黏度与平均粒径、膨胀势呈明显的线性关系。认为通过相关性分析可以建立起部分糊化淀粉浆液的评价分析方法,运用此方法,可以直观、有效地对部分糊化淀粉浆液黏度性质进行评价分析。     

Cross-linking of wheat starch improves the crispness of deep-fried battered food

Wheat starches with different degrees of cross-linking were used to study the effect of starch gelatinization in the batter and crust characteristics of deep-fried battered food. Pasting properties, viscosity and batter pick up as well as moisture and oil content and crispness of the fried crusts were evaluated. In batters prepared with a constant solids/water ratio, the cross-linked starches increased batter viscosity and consequently the batter pick up. Batters, with comparable viscosity were prepared by varying the solid/water ratio which gave the same batter pick up.The pasting properties of cross-linked starches showed that the higher the cross-linking the more resistant was the starch to gelatinization and granule disintegration. In batters with a constant solids/water ratio, batter with high cross-linked starch had more water loss during frying. Cross-linked starches had lower moisture content after storage and less oil was retained after frying. Crispness, measured instrumentally as sound intensity, was the highest for the high cross-linked starch at 1 and 20 min after frying.Batters prepared with the same viscosity were used to study the effect of cross-linked starches when the pick up was the same. To obtain comparable viscosities between the batters, the batter with native starch was prepared using the lowest mixing water content and the one with high cross-linked starch with the highest. The batter with the high cross-linked starch, although it had the highest addition of water, had the best crispness after frying.In conclusion, high cross-linking of wheat starch enhances crispness perception of deep-fried battered food.     

High pressure gelation of soy proteins: Effect of concentration, pH and additives

The global demand for soybean protein has increased dramatically over the last few years due to its versatility. High pressure (HP) processing is emerging as an effective alternative to thermal processing of foods. The HP treatment of protein solutions at different process conditions can cause partial unfolding of proteins that can lead to the irreversible gelation of the product. In this study, the influence of protein concentration (5–20% w/v), pH (3–7), sugar (5% w/v), CaCl₂ (5% w/v), pressure level (up to 650 MPa) and holding time (0.1 and 10 min), and process temperature (20 and 40 °C) on the dynamic rheology of soybean protein concentrate (SPC) solutions was evaluated. Furthermore, the protein structural changes caused by HP were studied, through the use of the extrinsic fluorescence of the probe 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (ANS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Results indicated a strong influence of protein concentration on both elastic (G′) and viscous (G″) moduli, increasing with concentration. Increase in pressure and holding time produced an increase on both G′ and G″ for SPC concentrations higher than 10%; at 15% SPC concentration, a relatively low pressure treatment of 250 MPa achieved the cross-over of G′ over G″. The structure of the soybean proteins suffered limited changes after HP treatment; hydrophobicity increased, as well as the relative proportion of random coil, while the β-sheet content decreased. HP treatment can be used to enhance the viscoelastic behavior of SPC after which SPC can be used to enrich both protein content and textural properties of foods.     

全面理解高压上浆的优越性

通过对高压、高浓、低粘上浆工艺的进一步研究 ,对压浆力与各项工艺参数之间的关系以及对各参数的影响进行了全面分析 ,结合我国国情提出了行之有效的量化指标 ,并对国产G14 2型浆纱机的技术改造提出了可行方案     

The influence of additives on the rheological and sensory properties of nonfat yogurt

In this work, response surface methodology was applied to a study of the effects of the addition of skim milk powder and stabilizers on the apparent viscosity and sensory attributes of nonfat yogurt. The addition of stabilizers has been shown to produce a significant effect on sensory attributes, while high concentrations of xanthan and guar gum are seen to decrease the overall acceptability of the yogurt, with gelatin producing the higher apparent viscosity and consistency. The correlation among apparent viscosity, which is an instrumental measurement, and consistency, which is a sensory evaluation, was 0.72.