ABSTRACT
Textural characteristics of fruits and vegetables are important in determining consumer acceptance, and even minor deviations from the expected texture can result in produce rejection. The textural properties of a food are the group of physical characteristics that arise from its structural elements, are sensed by touch, and are related to the deformations, fracture, disintegration, and ow under force; these physical properties are measured objectively and expressed as functions of mass, time, and distance (Bourne, 2002). Although the term is used widely and loosely, texture is not a single, well-dened attribute. It is a multi-trait attribute encompassing individual characteristics described by terms like rm, stiff, breakdown, crisp, granular, hard, juicy, spongy, melty, oury, or gritty (Harker et al., 1997ab; King et al., 2000). Each of the mentioned attributes is likely to reect particular facets of cell wall structure, especially cell wall strength and cell-to-cell adhesion. Hence, texture should be dened as a collective term that encompasses the structural and mechanical properties of a plant organ and their sensory perception by the consumer (Figure 4.1). Depending on the specic fruit or vegetable, one or a few textural attributes are appropriate to dene its texture for the purpose of quality control throughout the supply chain.
