Chewing behaviour and bolus formation during mastication of meat with different textures

During chewing, meat is mashed under compression and shear bite forces whilst saliva is incorporated. The resulting mixture is shaped into a cohesive bolus by agglomeration of small particles, and triggers a swallow. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between chewing behaviour and bolus formation of meat with different textures. Twenty-five consenting young adults participated in this study. Electromyographic activity was recorded from surface electrodes on the elevator muscles (masseter and temporalis) during mastication of cold beef. Two different textures (T1: tough and dry; T2: tender and juicy) were studied, and subjects were asked to chew the beef and then spit out the bolus either: (1) after a constant chewing period of 7 s or (2) when the bolus was ready to be swallowed. Meat samples were weighed before and after chewing to determine weight changes due to saliva incorporation and the release of meat juice. Cutting tests were applied to measure the maximum shear force. The mechanical shear force was maximal for meat before chewing (T1=124 N/cm2; T2=83 N/cm2) and decreased with increased chewing duration. Texture differences analysed from mechanical measurements remained significant even when the boli were ready for swallowing (T1=39 N/cm2; T2=32 N/cm2); the toughest meat gave the toughest bolus. Muscular activity adapted to the texture of the meat as soon as chewing began, and remained constant over the observed chewing period. Mean muscular activity was higher during the chewing of tough meat than during the chewing of tender meat. As a consequence, by the time a bolus was ready to be swallowed, more saliva had been incorporated into the tough meat samples (mean weight increase: 36%) than the tender meat samples (mean weight increase: 30%).