Patent ID: 8567250

Claim:
A method of determining textural characteristics of a food material having variable textural characteristics, said method comprising: applying a plurality of vibrational impacts with varying predetermined frequencies and predetermined time-intervals to a test sample of the food material within a container to produce a plurality of experimental vibrational responses, wherein each vibrational impact has a frequency within a predetermined frequency range and a predetermined time-length; measuring the plurality of experimental vibrational responses of the test sample to the plurality of vibrational impacts; comparing the plurality of experimental vibrational responses with a plurality of measured reference vibrational response values obtained from at least one calibration sample of the food material having known textural characteristics, thereby determining the textural characteristics of the test sample; and determining resonant mode frequencies and magnitudes of the test sample and using the resonant mode frequencies and magnitudes, along with the experimental vibrational responses, of the test sample to determine the textural characteristics of the test sample, wherein the food material is in a liquid or a semit-solid state.