Distribution of particle sizes in food comminuted by human mastication.

The masticatory performance of an individual may be quantified by describing the size distribution of particles of a comminuted test food as a function of the number of chewing strokes. A standardized sieving method and a standardized artificial test food (Optosil) were used to obtain reproducible results. Some measurements were performed using peanuts. The distribution of particle sizes of the comminuted food was adequately described by a Rosin-Rammler distribution function for the seven participating individuals which characterizes the size distribution by the median particle size (x50) and the broadness of the distribution (b). The broadness variable b hardly depends on the number of chewing strokes, and the differences in b between the individuals are small. Considerable differences in the median particle sizes at a given number of chewing strokes were observed between the subjects, reflecting differences in efficiency of comminution of a test food. For all subjects, the median particle size decreased as a function of the number of chewing strokes N according to the relation, x50 = c X N-d. Variables c and d characterized the efficiency of comminution by the subjects.