Design of an Economic Penetration Test Apparatus and Its Applications in the Food Industry

Abstract

The penetration test is important to mimic objects that are punctured in daily life and is one of the most important test methods for product quality control, ingredient formulation, process improvement, and consumer satisfaction. In the food industry, it has been widely used to measure product firmness, gel strength, and texture consistency. This paper presents the design and methodology of a simple penetration test apparatus that can be used to quantitatively characterize the sample’s firmness. This apparatus is cost effective, easy to build, and can be operated on any stable platform. It is portable and can be used in a field such as a fruit farm. This economic apparatus provides consistent data and is used to test several common food products, such as cucumbers, figs, and bananas. In addition, this apparatus has been used to investigate the ripeness of a banana over time. It is concluded that the penetration test apparatus can provide fairly good reproducibility.