Variation in Significant Difference of Sausage Textural Parameters Measured by Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) under Changing Measurement Conditions

This study examined the measurement conditions of the texture profile analysis (TPA) experiments that are typically used to measure the physical properties of sausage. As the measurement conditions (compression ratio and cross-head speed) were changed, the significant differences between the values of textural parameters (hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness) of samples changed. Furthermore, among the measurement conditions, there was more variation in the significant difference between the value of samples due to a change in the compression ratio than due to a change in the cross-head speed. The highest variation in significant difference was observed between the values of cohesiveness of samples due to changes in measurement conditions, whereas the lowest variation in significant difference was observed between the values of springiness of samples due to change in measurement conditions. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a clear basis for setting specific measurement conditions for TPA test, since significant differences in the values of textural parameters of samples were caused by differences in cross-head speed or compression ratio, not by a difference in samples, when analyzing the cohesiveness of sausage, especially.

Automated summary

This study found that changing the compression ratio and cross-head speed can significantly affect the values of textural parameters of sausage samples. Among the measurement conditions, changes in compression ratio had a greater impact on the significant differences between the values of samples.