Robi Andoyo, Ph.

RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
OF FOOD MATERIALS (PART I)

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology

Definition and a little bit of history

Rheology
The science that studies :
- Movements or displacement or strain or flows in products
in relation to
- Stress, strength, force, deposition of a weight, or effort.
We can either control the movement and measure the strength or the contrary, depending on devices

Applied > measured

Movement > strength:
When you eat, you cut the foodstuff and apply a certain force
When you stir a cream, it is more or less easy or hard
Choosing a camembert cheese (and sticking the thumb). You are applying the movement (and avoiding to
squash your thumb);
Strength > Movement :
when a pipette is flowing, the force is the gravity and the movement is related to the time necessary to
empty the pipette
covering a spoon of sauce anglaise (custard) and applied gravity and see if it drops
When you put a weight on a cheese, you apply the force and the cheese collapses
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
A little bit of history

First studies using rheology are attributed to George William Scott Blair, the first rheologist, for its
studies on the rheology of dough. First publications are 70 years ago: An Introduction to Industrial
Rheology

Rheological science has been developed since the last 20 years with the apparition of new very
efficient rheological devices : small movements, high sensitivity in the applied strengths

Rheological properties of food products are extremely diverse

Sauces, soups, gels, yoghurts, cheeses from soft to hard ones

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
Why studying rheology

Extremely wide ranges of studies and measurements and aims:

Knowing products: writing sheet of description of the product you are manufacturing, or of the
functional ingredient you are manufacturing or using in your process
Formulation, combination, mixture of ingredients to make the final product
Copying a product that is present on the market
Functional properties of ingredients
Quality control
Pumping, moving into pipes, mixing ingredients or products, shuffling in a fermentor (anywhere in
the process engineering).
Calculation of the pump power,
Calculation of the pipe length and diameter
Evaluating the consequences of the modification of an ingredient, of a process parameter
The effect of a variety of wheat on the staling of bread and bread quality
The effect of coagulation of milk on its rheological properties: effect of the clotting enzyme concentration
and temperature and pH values (in cheese making)
The effect of draining of the cheese curd
The effect of ripening of cheese
Instrumental evaluation of a foodstuffs texture

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
Some useful definitions
Making rheological characterization is relating a movement to a strength in a product (at known
temperature, atmospheric pressure and history of the product)

The variable for strength: the stress or

In rheological measurements, mostly, we use shear movements
In a shear movement, the fluid between the 2 plates is considered as composed of thin slices of liquid
that slip, one against the other. Considering 2 successive slides, the upper one is moving faster than
the lower one. So, the upper slide receives from the lower one a strength that tends to slow down the
product, while the lower one receives from the upper one a strength that tends to accelerate the slice.
Mobile

dF

dF
Immobile

Here are the shear forces.

As the stress = Force / Surface (in N/m2 or in Pascal, Pa)
If we divided these shear forces by the surface where they apply, we get the shear stresses, as the
stress that tend to accelerate or slow down the slices of product.
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
The variable for movement or deformation: the strain or
The strain is a relative characterization of the movement in the product. Again, we have the 2 previous
plates.
At t, we consider 2 points that are distant by dx,
After a time dt, the 2 points move to 2 different positions (the upper point moves farer)
the strain between the 2 points is the distance covered by the upper point minus the distance covered
by the lowest point, divided by the distance dx between these 2 points
= (u(x+dx)-u(x) )/dx = du / dx (no unit)
The strain is related to the movement or the displacement but take into account the distance between
the pieces in movement

t0
Mobile

du
x+dx u(x+dx,t
)
x
u(x,t)
Immobile

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
We often use the time derived strain, d/dt or
.

This is called the strain rate or the shear rate, and as it is the ratio of something dimensionless and of
time (in s), it is expressed in s-1 and is related to the speed of rotation
As = du/dx; d/dt = d(du/dx)/dt or d(du/dt)/dx or dv/dx, the way the rate of the displacement is
distributed in the space that is called usually, the rate gradient
The shear rate or the strain rate is also the rate gradient
t0
Mobile
du
x+dx u(x+dx,t)

x u(x,t)
Immobile

Other strains that we use on foodstuffs

Uniaxial compression of cheese, bread The coaxial cylinders
b
or the Couette geometry
g is called the gap a

= L/L0
L = (b-a) / g g
L0

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
What are we doing in that experiment?

whereas the slide that is just in contact with

the upper plate moves with this plate

at t0

at 2 s

This means that the slide that is just in contact 1 kg

with the lower plate is immobile

As we are not measuring how the solid or the liquid is slipping against the upper plate
We can stick the product (for instance cheese..), or stick sandpaper on the plates, or stick
sand on the plate or use stripped plates. Slippage is a problem.
The plate must be cleaned to avoid traces of fat and slippage
If we want to characterize a solid by this way, we apply very small values of strain and stress
for preventing its destruction
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction
On the great and crucial difference between liquids or fluids and solids

SOLIDS or ELASTIC
If a weight lower than the weight that destroys the solid is hanged
up, the upper plan turns a finite angle and then stops. If the weight
is removed, it turns back to the initial position. A preferred position of
macromolecules inside the solid leads to a restoration of the energy
by returning. A sort of memory and no loss of energy.

LIQUIDS or FLUIDS 1 kg
If a weight , as low as possible, is hanged up, the upper plane will
rotate till the end of the string. The higher the weight, the faster the
plan rate. And if the weight is removed, the upper plate will stop at
that position. The fluid flows at a constant shear rate. The fluid has
no memory and the energy is lost in viscous frictions and in a heat
production.
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology

Variable of force Variable of movement

Stress Strain
.
LIQUIDS = . SOLIDS = .
Pa= . s-1 Pa= E. (no unit)

(Pa)
= / .
(Pa)

=/

.
(s-1)
: viscosity (Pa/s-1 or Pa.s) E: Modulus (Pa)

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
LIQUIDS

= Newtonien or linear
Dynamic viscosity

. .

3 app Non Newtonien or non linear

2 4 Apparent viscosity

1
. .
.
1
. .
3
.
2 4

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
.n
LIQUIDS = . ( )

. Power law
(Pa)
=.
A: index of consistency (the stress at 1 s-1)
Newton n: flow behavior index

= K x (d/dt)n log () = log(K) +n log (d/dt)

or
= / (d/dt) = K x (d/dt)n-1 log () = log(K) + (n-1)
x log (d/dt)
. (s log()
-1)

n>1 : shear thickening

n=1 : Newtonien
n<1 : shear thinning
.
log
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
.
= . (
LIQUIDS .) Newt.
= . ( )n power law
.
= s + plastic. ( ) Bingham
.
= +
. ( )n Herschel - Bulkley
s plastic
(Pa)

(Pa.s)

. (s
-1)

What is this yield stress? A sort of fragile solid

.
What kind of structures? Very soft interactions (s-1)
between structures in suspensions, emulsions
Uses in food rheology?
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
LIQUIDS Liquids that give results depending on
(Pa)
the time during which they are sheared.
The during the ascendant step is
higher than the during the decreasing
step, because of destructuration.
Thixotropic fluids
Very often thixotropy is associated with
a yield stress, a soft structure
. destroyed during the shearing process
(Pa.s)
(s-1)
i

fin

Temps de cisaillement
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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
VISCOELASTIC PRODUCT Three methods The harmonic method
11
9
(sans unit)

7
5
Part of the energy is stored (SOLID or ELASTIC)
3 Part of the energy is lost (VISCOUS or LIQUID)
Strain (no unit)

1 Time (s)
temps (s)
dformation

-1
-3 0 2 4
-5
-7
-9
-11
= E x () = x (d/dt)
= 0 deg = 90 deg = /2
11 8 11
9 9
(sans unit)

(sans unit)
6 7
7
4

(Pa) (Pa)
5 5

Contrainte (Pa)
Strain (no unit)
3 2 3
Strain (no unit)

Contrainte

(Pa)
1 temps 1 Time (s)
temps (s)
Time (s)(s) 0

dformation
dformation

-1 -1
4 -2 -3 0 1 2 3 4

Stress
-3 0 2
Stress

-5 -4 -5
-7 -7
-9 -6 -9
-11 -8 -11 /2

Pure solid or elastic Pure liquid or viscous 21

 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
VISCOELASTIC PRODUCT

11 Strain
8
9

unit) unit)
=70 deg 6
7
4

(Pa)
11 dformation 8
Strain
5 =/2

Strain (no(sans
9
(sans unit)

6
7 3 2

Contrainte
4

(Pa)
5 liquide solide
Liquid Solid
1 temps (s) 0
Time (s)

(Pa)
3 2
Strain (no unit)

dformation
1 temps
Time(s)
(s) 0
Contrainte
-1
=0 4 -2
(Pa)
dformation

-1

Stress
-3 0 2 4 -2
-3 0 2
-5
Stress

-5
-7
-4 -4
-9 visco-lastique -6 -7
-11
Viscoelastic
-8 -9 -6
-11 -8

Delta, , is the loss angle, or the angle as compared to the strain.

Solid or elastic 0<<90 Liquid or viscous and tan() = G /G

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IP Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
VISCOELASTIC PRODUCT

The measured viscoelastique wave is made of 2 orthogonal waves:

- one in phase with the strain (the elastic one),
- one in phase with the strain rate, shielded at /2 (the viscous one)

max = 0 compared with strain max = /2 compared with strain

G= +i.
max max

G = G +i. G

modulus of solid-like modulus of liquid-like

Storage modulus Loss modulus

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 IP Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
VISCOELASTIC PRODUCT
Milk gelation with rennet
90 70

80
G 60
(degrs)
(degrees)

70
50
60
de dphasage

G', G" (Pa)

50 40
Angleangle

40 30
30
G 20
Loss

20
10
10 tgel
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Time (s)
temps (s)

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 Definition and evaluation of sensory properties of food
products an introduction to rheology
Used geometry for measuring rheological properties while applying shear
Plane-plane Couette Telescopic flow Torsion with 2
(as in pipes) rotational plans

Cone-plate

Plate-plate

Coaxial cylinders

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