This is the aim of a new research programme taking a novel approach to understanding the relationships between food structure and sensory perception.

Leader of the five-year programme Marco Morgenstern, of Crop & Food Research, says the work aims to find out how to design food structures that deliver the desired sensory appeal. “For example, if you want the experience of moistness in a product that has a low water content, it may be that our research will make that possible,” he says. “Potentially, food formulations and processing should be able to be modified to produce great tasting products that have health benefits or a long shelf-life but currently have low sensory appeal.”

Traditionally, the sensory attributes of foods, such as texture, are measured by consumer panels who describe attributes such as moisture content and grittiness, but this research programme will link sensory properties with engineering concepts. Proven and conventional methods will be combined with a novel approach of analysing chewing and the breakdown of components by saliva in the mouth. Models will be developed to show the relationships these factors have with sensory attributes. Ultimately, food product developers can use the models to precisely select novel ingredients and to engineer manufacturing processes to create foods with enhanced sensory properties.

Sensory scientists and engineers from Crop & Food Research will work with colleagues from HortResearch, Massey University and the University of Auckland on this programme.

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