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Objective Rollability Method for Corn Tortilla Texture Measurement

¹Research associate and professors, respectively, Cereal Quality Laboratory, Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2474. ²Corresponding author. Phone: 409/845-2925. E-mail: esuhendr@taexg.tamu.edu ³Senior project leader, Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, MI 49016.

An objective rollability method that imitates subjective rollability scores of corn tortilla texture was developed. Force and work required to pull an axle that caused a tortilla to roll around a dowel were measured. The sensitivity of the technique to detect changes in corn tortilla texture during storage was evaluated, and other factors affecting objective rollability and tortilla texture were studied. The objective rollability technique was fast, simple, and sensitive to changes in the tortillas, and worked effectively on commercial samples. Data was significantly correlated to subjective rollability and flexibility scores. Textural differences among fresh tortillas during the first 24 hr of storage, and among tortillas with different thicknesses and additives, were detected by the objective rollability method. Thicker tortillas required more force and work to roll than thin tortillas. The objective technique is more sensitive to changes in texture than subjective evaluations, which do not detect differences in tortilla variability during the first 24 hr after baking, and it can be used to evaluate the effect of formulation and processing changes on fresh and stored tortillas.