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Innovation & Technology
Lucila Vicari
The sensations that the texture of food and beverages provide will become more important for consumers and businesses: people are seeking new multisensory experiences in relation to food. In addition to the items they are used to, they like to try out new foods to find what best meets their expectations and needs.
The search for multisensory experiences will provide opportunities for food and beverages that use unexpected textures to surprise their consumers, especially teenagers and young people. The combination of different textures in a product ensures its structural complexity and this arouses the interest of consumers, who believe that eating or drinking should not just meet the primary needs of satisfying hunger or quenching thirst, but also be fun.
For the food industry, texture plays a key role in the quality of food. Assessing the texture of the products has several functions, highlighting, among others, control of the raw material and the manufacturing process, when there are changes in ingredients or equipment; control of the final product; the development of new products or changes in the formulation.
Regardless of its definition, the fact is that texture is often what defines if the consumer will accept the product or not. It is considered the next facet of the formulation that can be leveraged to provide consumers with interactive and documental experiences and is a fundamental aspect for consumers and is critical in product development. The main factors are summarized in the table below:
FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE CHOSEN TEXTURE
| Factor | Impact |
| Local and cultural preferences | Individual preference for known textures based on family and cultural history. |
| Seasonality | Seasonal variations in grains, tubers, fruits, vegetables and other food products can change their composition and texture, and in turn lead to changes in the texture of the products obtained from them. |
| Regionality | Different regions use different names for the same products. Varietal and other factors can lead to variation in texture. |
| Supply constrains | Constrains on the supply of ingredients can lead to their replacement, causing changes in texture. |
| Cost variations | The increase in the cost of ingredients may lead to them being replaced with cheaper ingredients, resulting in changes in texture. |
| Processing | Advances in processing techniques, including the use of pressure or shearing, can lead to a change in texture. |
| Packaging | New packaging materials, equipment and other factors can influence the way the product is treated and cause changes over its shelf-life, leading to changes in texture. |
| Regulations | Regulatory changes can reduce or eliminate the use of ingredients that require replacement and changes in texture. |
| Genetic composition | Some genetic factors, such as the amount and potency of saliva or genetic predisposition to certain types of oral behavior can influence the preference for specific textures. |
Source: Adapted from DAR and LIGHT, 2014.
The texture of a food has a fundamental role in its development process so that the product can meet the expectations of the target market. The use of images, illustrations and text titles are important to inform the consumer about the product texture on the shelf, which can influence in the purchase decision. And this information is also necessary for the consumer to understand the concept and know what to expect from the product.
The type of texture that will be perceived as pleasant depends in part on the culture, but also on consumption. For example, people expect thirst-quenching drinks to be thin and light. On the other hand, if the priority is pleasure, a drink can be creamier and richer.
Adding pieces of nuts, fruits, chocolate, grains or seeds can intensify and prolong the pleasure experience of eating or drinking, since all the flavors are not perceived at once, but at different levels due to the different textures. In relation to jams, butter and margarines, for example, they should spread easily; crispy foods should make certain sounds when bitten; and diet and light foods should not have different sensory attributes than the conventional counterpart.
The use of texturizing agents to improve a product or even replace a component can be much more complex than simply changing the formulation, involving the development and/or adaptation of the processing steps. In addition to modern processing, filling and packaging technologies, it is possible for food and beverage manufacturers to offer a wide range of products with specific textures, for example, “more pieces”, “extra creamy”, “more succulent”, “melts in your mouth”, or products with pieces that ensure an even more specific texture. This is the case with liquid dairy products, non-carbonated drinks and drinks with small pieces of fruit or vegetables such as seeds, grains, nuts and coconut flakes.
When approaching texture analysis in liquid and soft food products, rheological properties are used to characterize and evaluate the food. Viscosity is an attribute of great importance in food products such as juices and jams, among others.
Juice consumers, for example, pay attention to labels and manufacturers need to focus on creating clean labels with a low sugar content, because more than half of consumers say they read nutrition labels. Juices with inclusions (for example, pieces of fruit or cereal) not only provide a unique texture experience, they can also provide functionality (for example, protein and fiber or make the drink more filling) and attract 36% of consumers, according to a survey done by Mintel (2018) using a base of 1,552 Internet users over the age of 18 who bought any type of juice in the three months prior to the survey, in the United States.
Consumers are looking for healthier alternatives, but are not always willing to give up the pleasure of health. And the food and beverage sectors are increasingly attentive to the consumer’s texture preferences, placing this attribute at the top of the list of expectations to be met. However, making products that meet all consumer expectations and needs industrially viable is far more complex.
The development of properly textured foods involves the use of multivariate analysis tools, relating different areas such as gastronomy, food science, materials science, sensory science and the study of consumer behavior. During the product development, the reference and desired texture must be well characterized through analyses, which can be instrumental or sensory, which allow assessment and comparison of the product developed with the reference product.
LucílaVicari – Laboratory Analyst at Sensory Sciences and Insights at Duas Rodas, Food Chemist and holds a Master´s degree in Food Science and Technology