Application of electromyography (EMG), an in vivo oral processing analysis technique, for comprehensive texture evaluation of formulated rice products.

Owing to globalization, the popular indigenous products from various ethnical backgrounds are increasingly making their presence felt all over the world. This opens up a new arena for food technologists to conduct intensive research and developmental activities on the indigenous products. In this study, six popular Indian rice products viz. plain rice, pulao, kheer, idli, khichdi and pakoda were formulated and evaluated for their proximate composition, sensory attributes and textural parameters. Out of these, kheer with semi-fluid consistency had the highest moisture content and the lowest protein and fiber contents. Kheer is similar to rice pudding consumed in the U.S.A. and Europe. Fat content was the highest in pakoda being a crispy fried product. Khichdi being a cereal pulse combination product had the highest protein content. Khichdi is also the national dish of India. The overall acceptability scores were high for pakoda, pulao and kheer which were 8.60, 7.90 and 7.30, respectively. Electromyographic analysis was conducted for in vivo textural evaluation of formulated rice products. The analysis showed reproducible masticatory behavior of human subjects within an EMG session. Twenty-five masticatory parameters, which could establish significant (p < 0.05) differences between textural perceptions among the formulated rice products, were used for cluster analysis followed by principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA resulted in one principal component which could explain data variance of up to 93%. Further, significant positive correlations were found between EMG parameters and sensory textural attributes indicating applicability of electromyography for comprehensive textural evaluation of formulated rice products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]