Textural Perceptions and Food Quality¹

Consideration of texture within the food quality assessment takes two forms: scoring for the absence of defects and, more positively, addressing the hedonic aspects of food acceptance. The latter approach followed the demonstration that texture affects consumer attitudes to and preference for specific foods, often being equal to (or even surpassing) flavor in importance. It must be recognized that texture is a multi‐parameter attribute. Definitions and connotations of specific textural characteristics are reviewed as well as their classification. It is suggested that, having once provided the building blocks for a generalized approach to texture investigations, workers in quality assessment of agricultural products should now capitalize on the significant advancements made by researchers focusing on texture as a subject.