Establishment of Fracturability Standard Reference Scale by Instrumental and Sensory Analysis of Chinese Food

Twenty kinds of fracturable food were tested using instrumental measurement, and the result was analyzed with cluster analysis. Seven kinds of food were selected by coefficient of variation and were estimated by magnitude estimation. The result indicates that the correlation coefficient between estimated sensory value and instrument measured value is significant (R2=0.9248), which fits well with the Stevens' power law. The selected references of food fracturability were accurate, effective and traceable. The research could provide reliable theoretical basis for the determination of sensory evaluation references as well as instrumental measurement. Practical Applications This study was to establish the fracturability reference scale by choosing Chinese well-known foods according to Szczesniak's studies and Chinese characteristics. The research provides reliable theoretical basis and practical reference for quantitative study on food texture sensory parameters, and is a basis for further development of Chinese food texture research. Research will benefit textural studies through an improvement of consistent textural definitions and development of standard scales and evaluation techniques.