DISINTEGRATION is the ability to become reduced to components, fragments, or particles.
It may be as a result of decay, loss of cohesion, dissolving in liquid or crumbling and is generally associated with shrinkage, loss of height or volume from its original form. It is one of the primary characteristics of bath bombs, fast-disintegrating tablets, whipped creams, foams and mousses.
The Texture Analyser can be used to monitor the change in height of a product from its original height over a period of disintegration or volume/height loss. By tracking the distance required to move to maintain a chosen force the rate of decay can be plotted and calculated to the end point or period of no further change.
An independent study published in the Journal of Food Science has recognised the superior performance of Stable Micro Systems’ Warner-Bratzler shear blade in assessing firmness and texture in salmon fillets*.
The blade, which is used to assess the cutting force, or ‘bite’ of fresh fish, was the most sensitive method tested and yielded the most consistently accurate and repeatable data. As post-mortem quality degradation in fish continues to affect revenues, these conclusions will assist manufacturers looking to implement reliable, accurate and tested quality control procedures.
SPREADABILITY is the ease with which a product can be spread.
It is a desirable characteristic of margarines, butter, jams, chocolate spreads, etc. but is also an important property of ointments, creams and waxes.
It is related to the firmness of a product and, more often than not, the ease of spreading is associated with a loss in firmness.
CRISPNESS/CRUNCHINESS/BRITTLENESS is a property manifested by a tendency when subjected to an applied force to yield suddenly with a characteristic sound.
It is commonly the textural property possessed by snacks (potato chips), breakfast cereals, fresh fruit and vegetables and some baked products (biscuits, crackers). These types of products are usually associated with sharp triangular curves displaying an obvious break point (when tested individually) or produce a 'jagged' multi-peak curve when tested 'in bulk'.
ACTUATION FORCE testing allows measurement of the force required to, for example, release hair fixatives or air freshening sprays from aerosols; liquid soap, shampoo or cream from dispensers.
Manually-actuated spray pump dispensers or finger pumps rely on the consumer to generate a hydraulic pressure in the pumping engine in order to dispense the fluid. Dispenser designs may change or vary or the ever-increasing market for child friendly products may require adaptations.
When operating a pump-type liquid soap dispenser, for example, a child may have difficulty applying sufficient force in the appropriate direction to operate the pump, which may cause the dispenser to move, tip, or otherwise fail to discharge the product toward the intended target. An actuation force test typically uses a hemispherical probe to apply the force and provides an imitative test to assess such issues.
COHESIVENESS is the tendency of a product to cohere or stick together. The intermolecular attraction by which the elements of a body or mass of material are held together determine its cohesiveness.
The property is related to the internal stickiness of a product and is usually determined by measurement of the amount of force to remove an item from the product mass.
High cohesiveness may be favourable for products such as paint where easy removal of a brush from the main mass of paint needs to be a clean separation and without the tendency to extend from the surface of the mass to the brush for a considerable distance. However, low cohesiveness may be a favourable property of a product such as honey or syrup where considerable extension of the product from its main body of material is accepted.
COMBABILITY is the ease with which hair can be combed. Keeping healthy and manageable hair is very important as hair and hairstyle contributes to a large extent to the overall facial image of a person.
The loss in manageability can directly be attributed to an alteration of the hair surface. The state of the cuticle governs the frictional properties of hair fibres and determines how the hair feels to the touch and how it combs.
These physical changes lead to a rough hair surface and can directly be correlated to the fact that higher forces will be required to comb, for example UV-damaged hair.
Combability measurement is a method of choice to assess any alteration of the hair cuticle due to external aggressions and has already been proven to be a sensitive tool to detect UV-induced hair damage.
Halina Stanley investigates the history of chewing gum, how the chemistry of the gum affects its properties, and how scientists are using this knowledge to make chewing gum less of a pollutant.
Here's a taster...
"Love it or hate it, chewing gum is a ubiquitous and usually benign activity. Benign, that is, until some idiot decides to put some in your hair. Wouldn’t it be nice if gum didn’t stick to carpets, shoes and the underside of school desks? Terry Cosgrove, professor of chemistry at Bristol University, UK, has decided to take action; his easily removable chewing gum may save millions in cleaning bills.
