Methods for analysing the breakdown of food in human mastication.

A method is described for measuring the rate at which carrot particles are broken down in chewing. In 10 subjects, this rate declined progressively throughout mastication. This was analysed in terms of two variables: (a) the intra-oral selection of particles for fracture, (b) the size distribution of fractured pieces of those particles. When intra-oral selection was measured by different methods, it depended mainly upon particle size. The selection of small particles might depend on the number of chews taken after the food was placed in the mouth. The size distribution of fractured pieces was obtained from one chew on three different particle sizes. These distributions were partially described by two different equations whose characteristics suggest that carrot particles are subjected to only one breakage per chew and that the number of fragments formed per breakage is small. It is suggested that the cusps present on the post-canines were important in determining this breakage pattern, and that the dependence of selection on particle size was primarily responsible for the decline in the rate of breakdown with increasing numbers of chews.