Elasticity of food

The elasticity diagram provided by Material Property IOANA, gives an excellent explanation of what happens to food that provides its texture. This is called elasticity. This term is a continuation of my previous article, which was about mouthfeel. Elasticity affects the texture and mouthfeel of a certain food item. In the diagram above, the strands of gluten increase the elasticity of any food item. The more strands there are, the higher the elasticity, or, as a food scientist would call it, the elastic modulus. For example, when you cook a steak, the protein bond length in the steak shortens because water is expelled during cooking. This, in turn, leads to an increase in bond density and elastic modulus. This is usually true for foods that have different textures, as well as, for foods before and after cooking. When the food is deformed in cooking, it changes the position of the molecules in that food. Making bonds between molecules larger or smaller changes in the distance between the bonds. When you compare steak to gluten above. There are a greater number of bonds (bond density) in the steak than in gluten. Hence, gluten has a smaller elasticity (elastic modulus) than steak for a given volume. You have to compress fewer bonds when you press on bread, so less energy is required to deform it. In steak, the protein gets denatured and then coagulates, causing an increase in bonds between unfolded proteins. This, in turn, leads to greater bond density and elastic modulus. Water loss and protein contraction also play a role in increasing the density of bonds.