Effects of Extrusion Conditions and Oil Addition on the Characteristics of Cheese-Flavored Corn Snacks and Food Bolus Formation and Properties.

Texture perception is a critical sensory attribute of extruded foods, such as snacks and breakfast cereals. Texture perception during eating is generated by food oral processing, depending not only on oral physiology but also on food composition and structure and their interactions. Expanded snacks have low nutritional value mainly due to their low protein and fiber content and high lipid content and energetic value, which should be improved to ensure good consumer appreciation. Thus, a rotational central composite design was applied to study the oral processing of cheese-flavored corn snacks. The independent variables were moisture content of corn grits, extrusion temperature, and percentage of oil added (17 assays). The dependent variables included the chemical and physical properties of the products and the formation and properties of the corn snack boluses. The dynamic sensory profile of the products was also evaluated. The increase in the moisture content of corn grits reduced the number of particles in the food boluses. The increase in extrusion temperature reduced the density and force peak of snacks and chewing cycles, whereas the role of sunflower oil addition is more complex. The sensory profile of corn snacks stood out by hardness and crispness in the beginning of mastication, and sticky from the middle to the end, as well as by salty taste; however, the temporality had a low importance to characterize them. In conclusion, the sunflower oil has little impact on the sensory profile of corn snacks, suggesting that a low content of sunflower oil may be sensorially acceptable, contributing to nutritionally improved corn snacks.