Instrumental Textural Perception of Food and Comparative Biomaterials

Exposing an extruded corn snack, an extruded biodegradable packing material, carrots, and wood chip cork to relative humidity conditions ranging from 29.5 to 97.5% changed their moisture content and affected the respective internal structures. The extruded corn snack and extruded biodegradable packing material specimens evaluated after 24 h, absorbed moisture and lost crispness. Carrot and cork specimens were evaluated after 48 h; carrots lost moisture, became softer, and decreased in hardness from 55.02 ± 7.59 to 23.6 ± 8.6 N, while cork specimens were unchanged. For all products, loss of moisture increased surface roughness. Increasing moisture amplified turgidity and strength in extruded biodegradable packing material, decreased crispness in extruded corn snack, and stiffness in carrot, but produced no changes in the wood chip cork.