Effect of Physical Properties of Food Particles on the Degree of Graininess Perceived in the Mouth

Nineteen food materials were pulverized and passed through standard sieves to prepare samples with different particle sizes (23–500 μm). Each sample was tested for physical properties, and sensory evaluation tests were conducted to obtain the graininess threshold value and the degree of graininess discrimination. The graininess threshold value tended to decrease and the degree of graininess discrimination tended to increase with increasing degree of circularity, with decreasing solubility, with decreasing water absorption rate‐ particle size coefficient, and with increasing WK2/K1. The degree of graininess discrimination tended to increase with increasing particle size and increasing WK2. With a multiple‐regression analysis, the graininess threshold value was expressed by six physical properties, and the degree of graininess discrimination was expressed by eight physical properties, each with high contribution rates.