批量穿刺探头

Quantifying the firmness/hardness of products such as 'thick cut' marmalades or ice cream containing particulates, e.g. meringue pieces, chocolate chips, fruit chunks, has always been difficult. The number, size, shape and distribution of particulates are usually randomly distributed within each container. While it is relatively easy to quantify the firmness of the ice cream matrix on its own using standard penetration probes this method is extremely difficult when the ice cream contains particulates. A standard penetration test on such a non-uniform product is expected to have low reproducibility. The use of a Multiple Puncture Probe which penetrates the sample in several regions serves to create an averaging effect and is therefore usually more repeatable. Probes can be removed for cleaning and can be replaced easily if damage has occurred. In the event that forces produced are above the capacity of the load cell being used in the texture analyser the operator has the option to remove probes to reduce the contact area and therefore the forces produced. One must note however that the use of fewer puncture probes for the testing of a non-uniform sample is likely to decrease the reproducibility of the results and is therefore a testing compromise.