Author(s)

Yozo Miyaoka, Ichiro Ashida, Yuko Tamaki, Shin-ya Kawakami, Hajime Iwamori, Takako Yamazaki, Naoko Ito

Department of Health and Nutrition, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
Department of Health and Nutrition, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan;.
Department of Health and Nutrition, University of Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan..

The aim of this study was to quantify the relationships between four physiological parameters of masseter activity during chewing and properties related to the sizes and textures of the six representative test foods. The physiological parameters analyzed were the number of chewing cycles, chewing time, masseter amplitude, and cycle duration, which were obtained from masseter surface electromyography recorded in ten (seven male and three female) healthy, young participants. The six test foods differed in size dimensions (length, width, and height) and in textural properties (hardness, fracturability, and adhesiveness). The quantitative relationships were examined using linear regression. Nine statistically significant regression coefficients were found between the four physiological parameters and the textural properties, but not the height, of the test foods. From the regression coefficients, contributions of the food properties to the physiological parameters were estimated. Individual relationships between the physiological parameters and textural properties of the test foods are discussed in relation to their physiological implications.

Surface Electromyogram; Masseter; Physiological Parameters; Chewing; Textural Properties; Human

Y. Miyaoka, I. Ashida, Y. Tamaki, S. Kawakami, H. Iwamori, T. Yamazaki and N. Ito, "Quantitative Analysis of Relationships between Masseter Activity during Chewing and Textural Properties of Foods," Food and Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 2, 2013, pp. 144-149. doi: 10.4236/fns.2013.42020.