Laboratory for Flow Control-Fluid mechanics experiment for science & technology-

Creative research project in Hokkaido University

Defining food functionalities and daintiness
– establishment of new evaluation technique based on mechanics –

Ultrasonic spinning rheometry (USR) has high applicability for suspensions and thixotropic behaviors. This project was first designed to utilize USR for evaluation of food swallowability, especially for heterogeneous foods and time variation of their rheological properties against amylase, a digestive enzyme contained in saliva [1, 2]. “Daintiness of foods” has been often used in our daily life, but its evaluation is very unstable and subjective. One part of the daintiness has correlation with rheological properties of the foods, and USR should be a good tool to evaluate the properties. In this project, we aim to establish a novel evaluation technique to define daintiness and functionalities of foods based on knowledge of “mechanics” including liquid, solid, gel, and their mixture. And, the quantitative information will be combined with knowledge of rehabilitation medicine for dysphasia and sensory evaluation test.

Details of the project can be seen via the link below:
https://www.cris.hokudai.ac.jp/specific-research-projects/y_tasaka

1.  Yoshida et al., Phys. Fluids Vol. 31, 113101 (2019) DOI: 10.1063/1.5122874
2. Ohie et al. J. Texture Studies, Vol. 53, pp.445-452 (2022) DOI: 10.1111/jtxs.12679