{{short description|Physical sensations caused in the mouth by food or drink}} {{For|the album|Mouthfeel (album){{!}}''Mouthfeel'' (album)}} [[File:RIAN archive 569736 Boy eating a watermelon.jpg|thumb|A child bites into a watermelon, experiencing mouthfeel sensations such as juiciness]] '''Mouthfeel''' refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mouritsen|first1=Ole G.|last2=Styrbæk|first2=Klavs|title=Mouthfeel: How Texture Makes Taste|date=2017|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-54324-8}}</ref><ref name=Guinard>{{cite journal|last1=Guinard|first1=Jean-Xavier|last2=Mazzucchelli|first2=Rossella|title=The sensory perception of texture and mouthfeel|journal=Trends in Food Science & Technology|date=July 1996|volume=7|issue=7|pages=213–219|doi=10.1016/0924-2244(96)10025-X}}</ref> Mouthfeel is also sometimes referred to as '''texture'''.<ref name=Guinard/>
It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and food rheology.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Goodwin|first1=Lindsey|title=Mouthfeel Defined|url=https://www.thespruce.com/mouthfeel-765730|website=The Spruce|access-date=14 January 2018|date=26 December 2017}}</ref> It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate to first bite, through chewing to swallowing and aftertaste. In wine-tasting, for example, mouthfeel is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dollase|first1=Jürgen|title=Geschmacksschule|date=2005|publisher=Tre Torri Verlag|location=Wiesbaden, Germany|isbn=978-3-937963-20-4|language=de}}</ref> Research indicates texture and mouthfeel can also influence satiety with the effect of viscosity most significant.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Stribiţcaia|first1=Ecaterina|last2=Evans|first2=Charlotte E. L.|last3=Gibbons|first3=Catherine|last4=Blundell|first4=John|last5=Sarkar|first5=Anwesha|date=2020-07-31|title=Food texture influences on satiety: systematic review and meta-analysis|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|page=12929|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-69504-y|issn=2045-2322|pmc=7395742|pmid=32737349|bibcode=2020NatSR..1012929S }}</ref>
Mouthfeel is often related to a product's water activity—hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Katz|first1=E. E.|last2=Labuza|first2=T. P.|title=Effect of Water Activity on the Sensory Crispness and Mechanical Deformation of Snack Food Products|journal=Journal of Food Science|date=March 1981|volume=46|issue=2|pages=403–409|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb04871.x}}</ref>
== Qualities perceived == {{More citations needed|date=January 2025}} * Chewiness: The sensation of sustained, elastic resistance from food while it is chewed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=chewiness - Agrovoc - AGROVOC |url=https://agrovoc.fao.org/browse/agrovoc/en/page/c_2674ff99?clang=uk |access-date=2026-02-10 |website=agrovoc.fao.org |language=en}}</ref> * Cohesiveness: The degree to which the sample deforms before rupturing when biting with molars.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=Andrew J. |last2=Thompson |first2=Paul |date=June 2021 |title=What is cohesiveness?-A linguistic exploration of the food texture testing literature |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33464562 |journal=Journal of Texture Studies |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=294–302 |doi=10.1111/jtxs.12586 |issn=1745-4603 |pmid=33464562}}</ref> * Crunchiness: The audible grinding of a food when it is chewed * Density: The compactness of cross section of the sample after biting completely through with the molars * Dryness: The degree to which the sample feels dry in the mouth<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Jacqueline B. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1105931242 |title=Aging, nutrition and taste: nutrition, food science and culinary perspectives for aging tastefully |date=2019 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-813527-3 |location=London; San Diego |oclc=on1105931242}}</ref> * Exquisiteness: The perceived quality of the item in question * Fracturability: The force with which the sample crumbles, cracks or shatters – Fracturability encompasses crumbliness, crispiness, crunchiness and brittleness. * Graininess: The degree to which a sample contains small grainy particles * Gumminess: The energy required to disintegrate a semi-solid food to a state ready for swallowing * Hardness: The force required to deform the product to a given distance, i.e., force to compress between molars, bite through with incisors, compress between tongue and palate * Heaviness: The weight of product perceived when first placed on tongue * Juiciness * Moisture absorption: The amount of saliva absorbed by product * Moisture release: The amount of wetness/juiciness released from sample * Mouthcoating: The type and degree of coating in the mouth after mastication (for example, fat/oil)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Agorastos |first=Georgios |last2=van Halsema |first2=Emo |last3=Bast |first3=Aalt |last4=Klosse |first4=Peter |date=2023-03-01 |title=On the importance of saliva in mouthfeel sensations |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1878450X23000094 |journal=International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science |volume=31 |article-number=100667 |doi=10.1016/j.ijgfs.2023.100667 |issn=1878-450X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * Roughness: The degree of abrasiveness of product's surface perceived by the tongue * Slipperiness: The degree to which the product slides over the tongue * Smoothness: The absence of any particles, lumps, bumps, etc., in the product * Tenderness: The opposite of hardness; ease of chewing * Uniformity: The degree to which the sample is even throughout or the homogeneity of the sample * Uniformity of bite: The evenness of force throughout the bite * Uniformity of chew: The degree to which the chewing characteristics of the product are even throughout mastication * Viscosity: The force required to draw a liquid from a spoon over the tongue * Wetness: The amount of moisture perceived on product's surface
==See also== *Food *Psychorheology *Umami *Wine tasting *Q. texture
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Dollase, Jürgen, ''Geschmacksschule [engl.: Tasting School]'', 2005 Tre Tori, Wiesbaden, Germany ({{ISBN|3937963200}}). German-language textbook by a renowned food critic covering some, but not all of the above mentionend properties/mouthfeelings. *{{cite journal|last1=Stokes|first1=Jason R.|last2=Boehm|first2=Michael W.|last3=Baier|first3=Stefan K.|title=Oral processing, texture and mouthfeel: From rheology to tribology and beyond|journal=Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science|date=August 2013|volume=18|issue=4|pages=349–359|doi=10.1016/j.cocis.2013.04.010|doi-access=free}}
==External links== * [http://www.aqualab.com/applications/snack-foods-and-water-activity/ Snack Foods and Water Activity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413065335/http://www.aqualab.com/applications/snack-foods-and-water-activity/ |date=2013-04-13 }}
Category:Food science Category:Gustatory system Category:Sensory systems Category:Wine tasting Category:Characteristics of cheese