A mouth-size portion of food is usually around 5 g. During mastication, this will usually be reduced by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude before going to the stomach.
During the chewing process, food particles are positioned on the surface of teeth by the cheek and tongue. The tongue, cheeks and lips are able to push the food between particular teeth.
As mastication continues, food is ground into fine particles, mixed with saliva and formed into a bolus. Oral secretion of saliva is by the salivary glands located under the tongue, between the jaw bones, at the lower jaw and beneath the ear.
A combination of mastication and saliva also causes aggregation of hard particles derived from brittle foods during mastication.
The rate of food is broken down during mastication are all important aspects of food texture. It is include the size, shape and mechanical properties.
The term ‘texture’ is used to describe how foods properties respond during the mastication process with respect to all mechanical and tactile.
The type of material strongly affects the average duration of mastication, for example an average mastication and swallow time of 22 seconds for hard solids such as peanuts and biscuits and 9 seconds for soft solid such as bananas and spreads, while low viscosity liquids reside in the mouth for around a second.
The reduction of the size of the food particles during the mastication process is also highly relevant to the flavor release of that food.
Flavor release is the substance in the food that finally reaches the flavor-sensitive organs located in the nose.
This process of mastication imparts pleasurable sensations that seem to fill a very basic human need. Chewing is a sensual that people enjoy throughout life, from the cradle to the grave.
Process of mastication
