Texture analysis – a beginner's guide

If you work with foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or other consumer products, you will already be familiar with texture: the way something feels when you bite, spread, squeeze or handle it. Crisp crackers, chewy sweets, firm gels, smooth creams and thick pastes all have recognisable textural signatures.

For a closer look into what food texture and mouthfeel are, see our dedicated page What is food texture?. Here, we focus on how we measure those characteristics.

Texture analysis is the science and practice of objectively measuring the mechanical and physical properties of a product - properties that consumers experience as hardness, crispness, chewiness, spreadability, stickiness and more. 

Instead of relying only on people’s descriptions, we use controlled mechanical tests to apply forces to a sample and record how it responds to:

• Compression or penetration
• Cutting or shearing
• Stretching or bending
• Extrusion and flow

The resulting force-distance/time curves are then analysed to calculate parameters that relate to sensory perception and functional performance.

A Texture Analyser is a precision instrument that moves a probe or attachment up and down to deform a sample in a controlled way. 

• The moving arm is fitted with a Load Cell which measures force.
• As the probe compresses, penetrates, cuts or stretches the sample, the instrument records force, distance and time.
• This data is displayed as a curve which can be interpreted to understand product behaviour.

By fitting different probes and attachments, a Texture Analyser can perform a wide range of test types – for example:

• Compression of gels, tablets or bakery products
• Penetration of semi-solid foods or creams
• Cutting of cheese, meat, fruits, vegetables or confectionery
• Bending of bars, biscuits or materials
• Tensile testing of films, pastes, doughs or packaging seals 

From these tests we can measure properties such as fracturability, firmness, chewiness, stickiness, spreadability, extensibility, springiness and more.

Learn more about how a Texture Analyser works

Food texture analysis is simply texture analysis applied to foods and beverages.

We use the Texture Analyser to replicate the kinds of forces food experiences when it is:

• Processed (mixed, pumped, extruded, baked, frozen…)
• Stored and transported
• Chewed, spread or handled by the consumer 

Common uses include:

• Checking the crispness of snacks and biscuits
• Measuring the firmness or creaminess of dairy products
• Assessing the chewiness of confectionery or meat products
• Quantifying the spreadability of spreads, butters or soft cheeses
• Ensuring the strength and stability of gels, desserts and confectionery

From a manufacturer’s perspective, food texture analysis helps you:

• Ensure ingredients perform as expected in the process.
• Optimise formulation for target texture and consumer liking.
• Maintain consistent quality and shelf-life.

Learn more about food texture

Texture analysis underpins:

• Product development – turning consumer desires into measurable targets.
• Process optimisation – linking process parameters to texture outcomes.
• Quality control – making sure every batch meets specification. 

For a more in-depth look at the commercial reasons to measure texture, see our Why measure texture? page. There you’ll find examples of how texture analysis supports claims, reformulation and competitive positioning.

Sensory analysis – using trained panels or consumers to evaluate products by sight, smell, taste, touch and sound – is vital. It tells you what people actually experience and prefer.

Instrumental texture analysis:

• Provides objective, repeatable data that is not subject to panel fatigue or bias.
• Is easier to run frequently in production or shelf-life studies.
• Makes it simpler to screen many prototypes before involving a panel.

In practice, most companies use both:

1. Use sensory panels to identify key textural attributes and preferred levels.
2. Use instrumental tests to measure those attributes routinely and keep them on target.

Texture analysis can add value in many parts of your business:

• Research and development – exploring structures and ingredients, understanding micro- and macro-texture, and developing new methods. 
• New product development – benchmarking competitors, optimising formulations and tracking texture over shelf-life.
• Process development – linking processing steps to texture outcomes, identifying critical control points.
• Production and quality control – checking incoming materials, in-process samples and finished products to reduce waste and protect brand reputation. 

Ultimately, a Texture Analyser helps you turn subjective impressions into measurable parameters you can control.