Texture Evaluation of Diced Tomatoes

Application

To measure overall firmness of canned, diced tomatoes.

Problem

A processor of canned vegetables, including diced tomatoes, did not have an objective, consistent, repeatable way to measure the firmness of the canned tomatoes nor make a standard to compare all other products to.

Sample Preparation

Tomatoes were drained and then put into test cell until test cell was full. That amount was then weighed out in grams. The samples ranged in weight from 204-205 grams.

Solution

Testing was performed with a TMS-Pro Texture Analyzer, a 2500N load cell and the CS-1 Kramer Shear Cell. The test program started at zero, then the blades ran down into the test cell, penetrating/shearing the tomatoes at a speed of 250mm/min and running until the blades penetrated out of the bottom of the test cell then returned back to zero. The graph shows the results of the test.

Conclusion