Ease of Swallowing of Mixed Sol-Gel Samples and Related Factors

Research Project

Project/Area Number	13680161
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	食生活
Research Institution	Japan Women's University
Principal Investigator	OGOSHI Hiro Japan Women's Univ., Faculty of Home Economics, Professor, 家政学部, 教授 (80060698)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	KAWANO Aki Japan Women's Univ., Faculty of Home Economics, Assistant, 家政学部, 助手 (40318572)
Project Period (FY)	2001 – 2003
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2003)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000) Fiscal Year 2003: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000) Fiscal Year 2002: ¥400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000) Fiscal Year 2001: ¥2,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000)
Keywords	spherical gel / mixed sol-gel sample / swallowing characteristics / texture properties / thickening agent / 動的粘弾性 / 破断特性 / ゾル-ゲル混合系
Research Abstract	Study was made on the swallowing characteristics of mixed sol-gel samples in which the gel was dispersed within the sol. Fluid sol samples, as well as spherical gel samples of 4-5mm in diameter, were prepared from agar-agar with low gel strength. The spherical gel samples were mixed into the fluid sol samples to make modified samples. The hardness (Ha), energy of adhesiveness (Ea), and cohesiveness (Co) of both the fluid sol samples and mixed samples were obtained by textural measurement. The firmness, thickness, feeling of remaining in the mouth, and ease of swallowing of both the mixed samples find fluid sol samples were then tested by sensory evaluation to investigate the swallowing characteristics. The results showed that the Ha, Ea and Co values of the mixed samples were larger than those of the fluid sol samples. In the ease of swallowing of sol samples, the larger the Ha and Ea of the sol, the more "difficult to swallow" the sol sample was evaluated as. Spherical gels of more or less equivalent hardness using low gel strength agar and high visco-elasticity agar were prepared, and each type of gel was mixed into a fluid sol sample using low gel strength agar to create mixed sol-gel samples. Fracture property measurement of the spherical gels demonstrated that, the hardness was larger for the mixed samples, which used low gel strength agar spherical gels. In contrast, the mixed sample evaluated as "hard" in the sensory evaluation was the one, which used high visco-elasticity agar spherical gels. The co-relation between texture properties and swallowing characteristics was studied for model mixed sol-gel samples in which low gel strength agar spherical gels were dispersed into sol samples that had been prepared to have a hardness equivalent to yogurt. In mixed sol-gel samples, the physical properties of a sol sample did not affect the ease of swallowing of that sample.