A biomechanical model of swallowing for understanding the influence of saliva and food bolus viscosity on flavour release

Clément de Loubens , Albert Magnin (1) , Marion Doyennette , Ioan Cristian Tréléa , Isabelle Souchon

1 UJF - Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1

After swallowing a liquid or a semi-liquid food product, a thin film responsible for the dynamic profile of aroma release coats the pharyngeal mucosa. The objective of the present article was to understand and quantify physical mechanisms explaining pharyngeal mucosa coating. An elastohydrodynamic model of swallowing was developed for Newtonian liquids that focused on the most occluded region of the pharyngeal peristaltic wave. The model took lubrication by a saliva film and mucosa deformability into account. Food bolus flow rate and generated load were predicted as functions of three dimensionless variables: the dimensionless saliva flow rate, the viscosity ratio between saliva and the food bolus, and the elasticity number. Considering physiological conditions, the results were applied to predict aroma release kinetics.

Mots clés: Lubrication; Pharynx; Elastohydrodynamic; Aroma; Texture; Model

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Clément de Loubens, Albert Magnin, Marion Doyennette, Ioan Cristian Tréléa, Isabelle Souchon. A biomechanical model of swallowing for understanding the influence of saliva and food bolus viscosity on flavour release. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2011, 280 (1), pp.180. ⟨10.1016/j.jtbi.2011.04.016⟩. ⟨hal-00701254⟩