Food oral processing: effects of extrusion conditions and post-extrusion oil addition on the food bolus properties and sensory profile of extruded products

• Grant number: 23/11286-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Ana Carolina Conti
• Grantee: Ana Carolina Conti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Christian salles ; Juliana de Carvalho Marchesin

Abstract

Food oral processing (FOP) corresponds to a series of complex operations to which foods are subjected from the first bite to the moment of swallowing, influencing their perception of texture and flavor and the absorption of nutrients. FOP has shown to be a useful tool for evaluating and understanding the interaction between food and the oral cavity and has positioned itself as an interdisciplinary science, standing out as an emerging research topic in recent years. Nevertheless, FOP studies in Brazil are still incipient or even nonexistent. Considering previous studies by the research group, the oral processing of soybean extrudates showed a great complexity of information, whose effects should be better studied. Thus, the objective of the current project is to deepen the study of the effects of extrusion conditions and the post-extrusion addition of oil in extruded products (corn snacks and textured soy proteins as meat analogs), using rotational central composite designs with such conditions as independent variables, since these aspects have not yet been addressed in an integrated manner in the scientific literature. Corn grits and soy protein concentrate will be flavored with cheese and meat flavor precursors, respectively. Two rotational central composite designs will be used (one for each raw material) with raw material moisture, temperature and the percentage of oil addition as independent variables. The dependent variables will be some chemical and physical properties of the products, and important parameters for the study of their oral processing, such as chewing time, moisture, texture and particle distribution of the food boluses, and the sensory profile of the products. (AU)