Probabilistic Characteristics of Stress Changes During Cereal Snack Puncture

Abstract

During puncture tests of Japanese cereal snacks, the force increases and decreases alternately. We herein compare the force–deformation curves recorded by two different testing machines and show that the number of changes in the curves depends on the testing machine. Thus, it is impossible to compare results obtained using different instruments. By removing the higher‐frequency components of the force–deformation curves, small events are easily missed. The number of large events decreases when lower‐frequency components are eliminated. This suggests the importance of providing the information on the frequency range of the testing machines. Nevertheless, the number of large force changes is similar between the examined machines. To model the size–frequency distribution, we selected a parametric probabilistic model from among the Weibull, exponential and Pareto distributions using Akaike information criterion and found that the Weibull or exponential distributions have a fit better than the Pareto distribution. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The methods developed in this work can be used to evaluate the quality of crisp snack food. By analyzing the samples obtained from a lot, samples with poor texture because of abnormal moisture levels and/or ingredients can be discerned and can be used to accept or reject the lot.

Decreased b-value prior to the M 6.2 Northern Miyagi, Japan, earthquake of 26 July 2003

“…We can choose the same vertical axis of the above plot and the cumulative number plot because both vertical axes are the cumulative number of events (Tsukakoshi et al, 2007(Tsukakoshi et al, , 2008. 3.2 Treatment of aftershocks 3.2.1 Clustered activities and b-value Intensity functions are expressed by the sum of two terms: independent and their aftershocks.…”

Fracture intermittency during a puncture test of cereal snacks and its relation to porous structure

“…They have a cellular structure and a mass density of 0.28 g/cm 2 . For more details, cracker, please refer to Tsukakoshi et al (2007).…”

“…Hiller et al (1996) observed a 10-mN load for fresh potato puncture by using a 20-lm micro-indentor. The frequency-size distribution of force reductions observed with a plunger with a 0.7-mm diameter was described by Tsukakoshi et al (2007). In that study, several force changes greater than 0.1 N were observed.…”

“…The penetration speed is 2 mm/s. Tsukakoshi et al (2007) showed that the difference in the number of fractures obtained using the Texture Analyzer (Stable Micro Systems Ltd., Vienna Court, UK) and using the original Tensipresser is limited in the number of fractures smaller than 0.5 N, when the puncture speed is 2 mm/s. The penetration depth is selected so that the plunger penetrates to the opposite side.…”

“…In our previous article (Tsukakoshi, Naito, & Ishida, 2007), we used a food puncture test that involves the use of a slim plunger (Hayter & Smith, 1988;Hiller, Bruce, & Jeronimidis, 1996). This test can be used to study the structure of food and provides results that are less variable than those of other food puncture tests because it allows 0963-9969/$ -see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.…”