Electromyography of Eating Apples: Influences of Cooking, Cutting, and Peeling |
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Authors: | Kaoru Kohyama Yuko Nakayama Hirotaka Watanabe Tomoko Sasaki |
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Affiliation: | Author Kohyama, Nakayama, and Sasaki are with Natl. Food Research Inst., 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba 305-8642, Japan.;Author Watanabe is with Aomori Prefectural Local Food Research Center, Agricultural Products Processing Center, Aomori, Japan. Direct inquiries to author Kohyama (E-mail: ). |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACT: The mastication of 7 differently prepared apple samples (raw pieces peeled and unpeeled, sliced, grated, cooked pieces with and without peel, and half-cooked pieces, 10 g each) was evaluated using electromyography (EMG). Eleven subjects participated in the EMG recording of both sides of the masseter and temporal muscles while eating samples normally. Only the grated sample reduced the number of chewing strokes and muscle activity before swallowing. In contrast, the thin apple slices produced significantly shorter contraction duration and cycle time only during the 1st 5 chewing strokes. The EMG duration and cycle in subsequent chews, as well as the other parameters, did not significantly differ between slices and pieces. Cooked apples exhibited significantly lower EMG amplitude and muscle activity per chew than their raw counterparts; however, there was no evidence of reduced total muscle activity required for swallowing. Raw and cooked apples with peel yielded significantly greater EMG amplitude and longer duration than those without peel. These findings suggest that appropriate preparation is necessary for people with various mastication abilities: grated for very low ability, cooked for those with weak chewing force, and unpeeled for mastication training. |
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Keywords: | apples cooking sample size mastication electromyography |
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