Crispness measurement of potato crisps by single specimen using compression test

Abstract

Commonly, crispy characteristic is the desirable texture of dry food, especially in crisp products. The term crispness itself is qualitatively determined by the perception of human sensory. Thus, a quantitative expression is needed. The present work introduces a study to analyze the correlation between the crispness and compressive mechanical behavior of potato crisps as a preliminary step to quantify crispness level of crisp products. Potato crisp samples were exposed to room air in several specific durations. The crisp samples were assessed one by one by running a uniaxial compression test using two parallel plates. The load and displacement curve relationship were measured simultaneously during crisp deformation at a constant speed. The result indicated that there is a relationship between the crispness of the crisps and the strain energy up to 10% strain. Yet, the result has not perfectly mimicked the apparent crispness of the samples. This analysis is expected to contribute to the food engineering field in terms of crispness quantification of a dry food.