Axehole

Every Friday is WTF Friday at Axehole, a special time when we pick one news item, new gear announcement or website that makes use wonder, WTF?

Previously, we’ve looked at cities that use 60’s music to chase away hot-rodders; the effect of sex music on spring break partiers; and the Passion of the Jesus guitar.

This week, we take a look at the strange world of research into the ultrasound of food.

Yes, the ultrasound of food sounds a bit like a 60’s lounge record for dinner time, but it’s actually an area of serious scientific study.

Malcolm Povey, Professor of Food Physics at the University of Leeds, is a world expert in ultrasound. Professor Povey recently examined the “crispy nature” of various inherently crunchy foods – Jazz apples, premium thick-cut crisps and rich tea biscuits.

He found that people’s enjoyment was related to the ultrasonic sound of food.

“Ultrasound is sound that is beyond the range of normal human hearing. Intriguingly, our brains automatically cut out the ultrasound when munching so as not to make ourselves deaf,” Professor Povey said. “When it comes to the pleasure of eating, sound is as important as colour and taste but how our brain interprets this information is not yet understood. When you munch a Jazz apple you are in fact creating massive peaks of ultrasound in your head that we experience as a vibration sensation.”

Povey’s research combined taste panels and lab tests.

The taste panel findings revealed that the subjects recorded the apples as providing the most ‘enjoyment of biting’, achieving a top score of 7.8 on a scale of 0 to 10.

Interestingly, laboratory research using a texture analyser machine that ‘bites’ into food and records the sound in a matter of milliseconds showed that the apples produced far more ultrasound than the crisps or biscuits, measuring significantly higher amplitude (loudness).

“Our group of subjects were culturally diverse but all were able to identify crispiness to the same degree. It is highly probable that we are all genetically disposed to appreciating crispiness as a sign of freshness in food.”

Povey’s research was sponsored by Worldwide Fruit, the producer of the Jazz apple. The company has “world-renowned laboratories” and “research equipment worth over £10 million” to bring you the latest research into the ultrasound of food.

“Jazz is a new, very crispy apple,” said Gary Harrison, commercial manager for Worldwide Fruit. “The sound that a Jazz apple creates in your head when eaten is quite unique, so the name is highly appropriate. You could say that it’s music to your mouth!”

via Response Source