Fracture/Bending Testing for Texture Analysis and Materials Testing

What is a fracture/bending test?

This type of test can measure the fracture and break strength of hard and brittle products (or their flexibility) by bending the sample, usually until a break occurs. If a break does not occur whilst the sample is flexed then a measure of its flexibility can be performed instead – a degree of flexibility can be desirable or a characteristic to be avoided, depending upon the sample. Stable Micro Systems enables a wide range of tests in this field, using fixtures such as the Three Point Bend Rig which are adaptable to many types of sample, and also specialist attachments like the Crisp Fracture Support Rig or the Spaghetti Flexure Rig.

Use of by-products for agricultural benefit

Crop protection, including weed management, is a critical issue in agriculture. Mulching, which consists of covering the soil surface with organic or inorganic materials, is used to control soil moisture, soil temperature, nutrient loss, salinity, erosion, soil structure, etc. Its benefits for the growth and yield of annual and perennial crops have long been recognised. Although it is an age-old practice for managing weeds, mulching has largely dwindled since the widespread use of herbicides; however, now it is gaining importance in the context of sustainable agriculture. Different mulching materials have been used in different crops in different climatic environments for weed management, and results vary according to the chosen approach, growing practices, conditions and species. These materials include crop residues, non-degradable plastic films, and also biodegradable films. The lifetime of an agricultural mulch varies considerably (i.e., months to years) depending on the nature of the material, its application, its thickness, and the environmental conditions.

Extrusion Testing for Texture Analysis and Materials Testing

What is an extrusion test?

There are generally two types of extrusion test in texture analysis: backward (or back) and forward. Of the various extrusion techniques the one favoured in recent years is back extrusion. The sample is contained in a strong cell with a solid base and an open top. A rod with a disc is then forced down into the container until the food flows up (backwards) through the space between the disc and the container walls which is called the annulus.

How Texture Analysis is progressing the development of even better gluten-free products

The global demand for gluten-free products is expanding and continues to be a significant technological challenge for the bakery industries. One of the principle challenges is producing gluten-free baked goods and pasta with similar textural quality to the gluten-loaded counterparts.

The market demand of gluten-free (GF) baked goods and pasta is expanding. Despite the health halo associated with GF food category, commercially available GF cereal-based foods are often characterised by lower nutritional quality than their gluten-containing counterparts, having lower dietary fibre, protein and resistant starch (RS) contents, along with enhanced starch digestion rates and extents.

Tensile Testing for Texture Analysis and Materials Testing

What is a tensile test?

A tensile test pulls or stretches a sample and as a result the extensibility/elongation and tensile strength properties are measured in terms of force required to stretch and distance something can be stretched to.

The ultimate tensile strength of a material is defined as the maximum attainable load, acting on a specimen in a tensile test, divided by the original cross-sectional area of the specimen.

A conventional tensile test assumes that the sample fractures almost instantaneously in a plane that is approximately perpendicular to the plane of the applied tension. The maximum force is the tensile strength of the material.

Compression Testing for Texture Analysis and Materials Testing

What is a compression test?

A compression test is perhaps the most simple and popular test of instrumental texture measurement. In its simplest method, a sample is placed on a flat base/surface and a flat probe/platen is lowered onto the sample to a given force or distance (or the sample is compressed to a percentage of its original height). The sample is deformed and the extent of the deformation and/or the resistance offered by the sample is recorded. Simple compression tests are often termed uniaxial compression which means that the sample is compressed in one direction and is unrestrained in the other two. Either a low or high degree of compression can be chosen but a high degree of compression will usually cause the product to rupture, spread, fracture, or break into pieces.

Puncture and Penetration Testing for Texture Analysis and Materials Testing

What is a puncture/penetration test?

In a penetration/puncture test a probe is made to penetrate into the test sample and the force necessary to achieve a certain penetration depth or the depth of penetration in a specified time, under defined conditions, is measured and used as an index of e.g. hardness, firmness, toughness.

Both test principles cause an irreversible change in the sample and assume that the sample being investigated is of larger area than the contact area of the probe in use; a sample smaller than the probe contact area would assume compression principles.

Texture Analysis in Research: Alternative Proteins

Across the globe, consumers are increasingly looking for non-meat options when buying protein as part of their diet.  

 

Meat has been the main source of protein in developed markets for years. However, a change in consumer behaviour has led to a growth in the alternative proteins market due to health concerns, environmental reasons and animal welfare awareness. Consequently, producers of animal protein face large risks to their sustainability if they do not join the innovative and fast growing alternative proteins market. Meat alternatives and broader protein alternatives that can act as substitutes for traditional meat products are attracting considerable financial investment.

‘Alternative proteins’ is a general term that covers any substitute to traditional animal protein. These protein sources include plant-based protein, fermented protein, algae, cultured meat, 3D printed meat and insects. The texture of traditional meat has always been the most important factor in determining consumer acceptance, and the same is true for alternative protein sources.