Huge leap forward in texture analysis

REVOLUTIONARY equipment from texture analysis equipment specialist Stable Micro Systems now provides unrivalled texture analysis data and analysis capabilities for food manufacturers. The company’s new Video Capture and Synchronisation System enables them to record tests and replay them frame by frame simultaneously with their corresponding force-distance-time graphs. This is an industry first, which means that even the quickest tests can be viewed and analysed in minute detail. The system will be particularly valuable in the bakery, snack and confectionery section.

The new system includes a moveable video camera, a transparent test platform, which permits recordings from underneath the sample, and an optional light attachment. To conduct a test, the camera is positioned in the most appropriate location for testing. As the TA.XTplus texture analyser begins collecting data, a signal is relayed to the Video Capture Interface, which initiates recording at up to 50 frames per second.

Exponent, the proprietary software from Stable Micro Systems, collects and analyses data. When replayed afterwards, each video frame is automatically synchronised with the data points on the force-time graph, allowing graph events to be related simply to visual events on the product.

Video Capture and Synchronisation System records tests and replays them frame by frame simultaneously with their corresponding force-distance-time graphs

Jo Smewing, applications manager at Stable Micro Systems, says: “This new system represents a huge leap forward in texture analysis for the food industry. Decisive visual aspects of a test can be easily missed by the human eye, but are critical to understanding a product’s textural and sensory appeal. A biscuit, for example, can snap or crumble very quickly, making it impossible for human observers to note the exact point at which it broke. Similarly, it’s difficult to watch with the naked eye the fracture of a potato crisp.

“Automatically correlating the peaks and troughs of a force-distance-time graph with frame by frame video recordings means the exact behaviour of a sample can be recorded, interpreted simply and re-examined as often as required. It also enables users to identify anomalies in a test without the need for re-testing at a later date, and to undertake far more detailed comparative analyses.”

The new Video Capture and Synchronisation System will be invaluable to R&D professionals and quality control departments as they seek to optimise the appeal of their products.Adidas