Physical sensations caused in the mouth by food or drink
A child bites into a watermelon, experiencing mouthfeel sensations such as juiciness
Mouthfeel refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item.[1][2] Mouthfeel is also sometimes referred to as texture.[2]
It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and food rheology.[3] It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate to first bite, through chewing to swallowing and aftertaste. In wine-tasting, for example, mouthfeel is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth.[4] Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence satiety with the effect of viscosity most significant.[5]
Mouthfeel is often related to a product's water activity—hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.[6]
Chewiness: The sensation of sustained, elastic resistance from food while it is chewed
Cohesiveness: The degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with molars
Crunchiness: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed
Density: The compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars
Dryness: The degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth
Exquisiteness: The perceived quality of the item in question
Fracturability: The force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters – Fracturability encompasses crumbliness, crispiness, crunchiness and brittleness.
Graininess: The degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles
Gumminess: The energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing
Hardness: The force required to deform the product to a given distance, i.e., force to compress between molars, bite through with incisors, compress between tongue and palate
Heaviness: The weight of product perceived when first placed on tongue
Moisture absorption: The amount of saliva absorbed by product
Moisture release: The amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample
Mouthcoating: The type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example, fat/oil)
Roughness: The degree of abrasiveness of product's surface perceived by the tongue
Slipperiness: The degree to which the product slides over the tongue
Smoothness: The absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product
Uniformity: The degree to which the sample is even throughout or the homogeneity of the sample
Uniformity of bite: The evenness of force throughout the bite
Uniformity of chew: The degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication
Viscosity: The force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue
Wetness: The amount of moisture perceived on product's surface
^Katz, E. E.; Labuza, T. P. (March 1981). "Effect of Water Activity on the Sensory Crispness and Mechanical Deformation of Snack Food Products". Journal of Food Science. 46 (2): 403–409. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb04871.x.
Further reading
Dollase, Jürgen, Geschmacksschule [engl.: Tasting School], 2005 Tre Tori, Wiesbaden, Germany (ISBN3937963200). German-language textbook by a renowned food critic covering some, but not all of the above mentionend properties/mouthfeelings.
