Relationship between chewing perception, texture of food and masticatory muscle activities on chewing some foods [Japanese]

摘要

Relationship between chewing perception, texture of food and masticatory muscle activities was investigated in children (60 panelists; 4 to 6 years old, average of 5.3 years old) and female young adults (54 panelists; 19 to 23 years old, average of 20.5 years old), The texture of food samples tested was measured by Tensipresser, and the chewing frequency and the sum of the proportion of amplitudes for temporal and masseter muscles were calculated from the electromyograms recorded. The chewing perception was evaluated with questionnaire. The results obtained were as follows. (1) The difference between food samples with respect to chewing perception by young adults was recognized, compared with that by the children. (2) For food samples with higher chewing perception, both children and adults showed higher the sum of the proportion of amplitudes. (3) There were high correlation coefficient between chewing perception and the sum of the proportion of amplitudes in masseter muscle. The tendency was more remarkable in the young adults. (4) The chewing perception in children were correlated with the hardness of food, while that in adults with both the hardness and chewiness of foods. (5) The masticatory muscle activities were considered to depend on the chewiness in the texture of foods.