COMPUTER‐ASSISTED READOUT OF DATA FROM TEXTURE PROFILE ANALYSIS CURVES1

ABSTRACT The speed of computer readout plus the flexibility of interpretation of the various features of the Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) curves by an experienced operator was accomplished by placing the Instron re‐ corder charts ouer a digitizer interfaced to a computer. The digitizer provides a 14″× 14″ digitizing area with a resolution of 100 lines per inch. The operator guides a cursor over the TPA curve and the com‐ puter records X and Y coordinates in units of 0.01 in. A trigger on the cursor allows the operator to select designated foxes, distances and areas to be used by the computer in subsequent calculations of TPA parameters. Correlation coefficients between manually measured TPA parameters and computer‐assisted readout of the same force‐distance curues using apples, carrots, cream cheese, frankfurters and pretzel sticks were generally higher than r = 0.99.