Texture of canned potatoes: Use of new objective methods to separate the attributes of mouthfeel and breakdown

New methods are described for the objective assessment of mouthfeel (mealiness) using a Kramer Shear Press and for the amount of breakdown by sedimentation of sloughed tissue. Their application to several hundred samples of canned potatoes is reported. These objective methods correlate significantly ( P < 0.001) with their subjective counterparts and demonstrate a clearer separation of mouthfeel and breakdown than do subjective methods. Examination of partial correlation coefficients indicates that mouthfeel is more significantly related to the specific gravity of the raw material than is breakdown. In separate experiments, late planting was shown to affect mouthfeel but not breakdown and the addition of calcium chloride to affect breakdown whilst leaving mouthfeel unaltered. Evidence is presented that mouthfeel is a rheological property controlled primarily by solids content; in contrast breakdown is interpreted as a failure of intercellular adhesion.