Tsukishima Food Industries Co., Ltd. has produced margarine, cream, and other processed oil and fat products for B2B customers since 1960. At its research institute, around 50 analytical methods are used for quality control and product development. One question has always been especially hard to answer: what exactly creates texture?
Cutting is not an option
Until recently, the only way to look inside food was to cut it open. With soft products like bread or cream puffs, though, the internal structure collapses the moment the knife goes in. Electron microscopes can show fine details, but they cannot explain how those details relate to the overall texture or fluffiness. Technical expert Mr Mizobe spent more than ten years looking for a technology that could capture the whole structure non-destructively and quantify it.
The breakthrough came with a compact benchtop CT system from Shimadzu. It cost and weighed about a tenth of the systems considered before, and could scan samples ten times larger. "I had expected it would take three to six minutes to scan with high precision, but I obtained a very clear image in about two minutes," Mr Mizobe recalls. A second deciding factor was VGSTUDIO MAX. The software made three-dimensional visualisation and analysis possible that had been out of reach with visual inspection alone.
From an artisan's instinct to scientific proof
Tsukishima supports its customers well beyond the ingredient itself, down to their manufacturing processes. In one project, the team used CT to study how the timing and amount of egg added to choux pastry affect its volume. Images and measurements showed that what had long been put down to the baker's experience actually comes from differences in how air bubbles form. "Being able to scientifically substantiate the transmission of these techniques is a major achievement," says Mr Mizobe.
The images are also convincing in customer conversations. During one development project, sensory tests suggested a prototype was close to the benchmark product, but there was no decisive proof. The team showed the client CT data of the internal cavity structure along with quantified volume measurements. "The client was surprised, exclaiming 'You can see this much!,' and the design was approved on the spot," says Mr Sugawara.
From three hours to 30 minutes
Analysing food, with its irregular structure, was difficult at first. A single analysis could take up to three hours. With the training and technical support included in the VGSTUDIO MAX premium support package, and with improvements in the software's segmentation capabilities, the team now finishes an analysis in about 30 minutes. "To fully harness the performance of the CT scanner, VGSTUDIO MAX and the support services are indispensable," says Mr Mizobe.
Fewer prototypes, faster development
Tsukishima is now building a systematic database. The team varies raw materials, recipes, and process conditions and records the resulting structures. Over time, this should reveal how to reach a target texture directly, cutting down on trial-and-error prototypes and speeding up development considerably.
The company plans to extend CT analysis beyond bread to cooked processed foods and baked goods. It is also looking at using CT to monitor wear in its factory equipment, and, as scanning speeds increase, possibly for in-line quality control.
"Research into the relationship between texture and structure is still in its pioneering stages," the research team says. With X-ray CT and VGSTUDIO MAX, Tsukishima has gained a scientific eye for what lies beyond deliciousness.
