Texture Evaluation of Chopped Sea Clams

Application

Two samples of chopped, processed, and canned clams were submitted for texture evaluation.

Problem

Sea clams are naturally tough right out of the ocean, therefore, companies must treat them to soften them up to sell to consumers. They need to be able to measure the softness of the clams after treatment. They also need this way to be repeatable, consistent and quantifiable.

Solution

Testing was performed with a TMS-Pro Texture Analyzer, a 2500N load cell and a CS-1 Kramer Shear Cell. The program was written to start at zero, run down at 300mm/min into the product and completely through the bottom of the test cell (90mm) then return to zero. The samples were drained and weighed into 40 gram portions (about 5-6 clams). No sorting of the individual pieces was done and the portions were randomly extracted from the drained product.

Conclusion

Using the TMS-Pro texture analyzer and the compression/shearing test method proves to be a good indicator of the softness of the clams and detects a different between products after treatment. This test could be used either as a benchmark for the “ideal” texture of the chopped clams or can be used to detect differences between different batches before they are canned.