Development of a caramel-based viscoelastic reference material for cutting tests at different rates

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Cutting speed plays a crucial role for the behavior during and the final quality of viscoelastic foods after cutting and is, in industrial applications, usually adjusted on an empirical basis. Although previous studies investigated the interplay between the time-dependent properties and cutting behavior of model systems on an elastomer basis, there is still a need to elaborate such cause-effect relations for real foods. The aim of this study was to establish a reproducible manufacture of model caramels on a laboratory scale and to investigate the influence of the compositional parameters, moisture, and solid fat content, as well as cutting speed, on cutting behavior. It was possible to visualize ductile-brittle transitions in cutting force profiles, with an increase in cutting speed resulting in effects similar to that induced by a decreasing moisture content or an increasing solid fat content. Quantitatively, the progression of both maximum force and cutting energy reversed when cutting speed increased and composition changed in favor of a more brittle behavior. This work provides the basis for further research on distinct loading phenomena observed during the cutting of foods and for numerical modeling of the cutting process.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number3798
JournalMaterials
Volume14
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jul 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-1914-8473/work/142249460
PubMed 34300717

Keywords

Keywords

  • Caramel, Cutting, Cutting speed, Ductile-brittle-transition, Fracture, Moisture, Solid fat content, Viscoelasticity