Correlation between sensory and instrumental texture analysis of lamined and expanded breakfast cereals

Abstract

The texture is a complex attribute, which involves various sensory characteristics and it is considered a critical attribute to the quality of some products such as breakfast cereals. The breakfast cereal may be obtained by two major technological processes, lamination and thermoplastic extrusion, both of which result in crunchy products with reduced water activity. Due to the few studies in the scientific literature regarding the characterization of instrumental and sensory texture of laminated and expanded breakfast cereals, and studies correlating these analyzes, the aim of this study is to determine the texture profile of laminated and expanded commercial breakfast cereals and the correlation between sensory evaluation and instrumental texture for each group of breakfast cereals. The cereals will be evaluated "pure", without the addition of milk, and added of milk at room temperature. The breakfast cereals will be instrumentally analyzed through different tests and probes, and they will be characterized by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The sensory texture profile will be accomplished through descriptive analysis. The overall acceptance by breakfast cereals will be obtained using hedonic scale of nine points and scale of the ideal. Finally, the data obtained in the sensory analysis and instrumental tests will be submitted to Pearson correlation analysis. (AU)