Abstract
Consumption of food products containing polyphenols has resulted in a feeling
of dryness, roughness and puckering of the oral epithelium which is known as
astringency. At high concentrations, astringent food compounds are perceived by consumers as unpleasant and has led food scientist to initiate multiple studies with the aim of reducing the unwanted effects of astringency.
This project proposes a tongue equivalent design that closely mimics the properties of oral surfaces which are relevant for assessing changes to oral lubrication resulting from astringency. The nature of interactions occurring at oral interfaces containing astringents point towards a system dependence of astringency and shows the importance of adopting a tribosystems approach.
By adopting a systems engineering approach, this project has been able to identify the main stakeholders and the influence they possess on the system under design. This was followed by the identification of needs from the main stakeholders which were translated into system requirements. Design concepts with the aim of satisfying the system’s requirements were proposed alongside some planned evaluation methods, performance indicators and expectations from the project main stakeholders.
A final design concept was chosen based on the conceptual designs proposed to the stakeholders. The final design considers the topography, mechanical properties and operating conditions of the human tongue during oral assessment. Experiments have been used to verify the properties of several aspects of the design including Direct Mechanical Analysis, Dynamic Light Scattering and Tribological work.
This thesis concludes by making recommendations on possible applications and
future developments to the proposed design. Based on the investigation into the
mechanism of astringency, it is recommended that current test protocols must
undergo further development, making them capable of investigating the tribochemical basis of astringency.
of dryness, roughness and puckering of the oral epithelium which is known as
astringency. At high concentrations, astringent food compounds are perceived by consumers as unpleasant and has led food scientist to initiate multiple studies with the aim of reducing the unwanted effects of astringency.
This project proposes a tongue equivalent design that closely mimics the properties of oral surfaces which are relevant for assessing changes to oral lubrication resulting from astringency. The nature of interactions occurring at oral interfaces containing astringents point towards a system dependence of astringency and shows the importance of adopting a tribosystems approach.
By adopting a systems engineering approach, this project has been able to identify the main stakeholders and the influence they possess on the system under design. This was followed by the identification of needs from the main stakeholders which were translated into system requirements. Design concepts with the aim of satisfying the system’s requirements were proposed alongside some planned evaluation methods, performance indicators and expectations from the project main stakeholders.
A final design concept was chosen based on the conceptual designs proposed to the stakeholders. The final design considers the topography, mechanical properties and operating conditions of the human tongue during oral assessment. Experiments have been used to verify the properties of several aspects of the design including Direct Mechanical Analysis, Dynamic Light Scattering and Tribological work.
This thesis concludes by making recommendations on possible applications and
future developments to the proposed design. Based on the investigation into the
mechanism of astringency, it is recommended that current test protocols must
undergo further development, making them capable of investigating the tribochemical basis of astringency.
| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 24 Jan 2023 |
| Place of Publication | Enschede |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-90-365-5516-6 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 978-90-365-5517-3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Jan 2023 |