An update about artificial mastication

Marie-Agnès Peyron (1) , Alain Woda (2, 3, 4)

1 UNH - Unité de Nutrition Humaine
2 UdA - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I
3 CHU Clermont-Ferrand
4 CROC - Centre de Recherche en Odontologie Clinique

Developing masticatory apparatus, chewing robots or an artificial mouth is an old but ever more important goal in food science, nutrition or dental research fields, as reflected by the number of existing digital or biomechanical systems. Whatever the objective of the approach, basic knowledge of the physiology of mastication, adaptation and neurophysiological control is absolutely needed before conceiving an apparatus. Obviously, the final step in the development of a mastication simulator is its validation before performing food or food bolus characterization. This validation step is imperative to avoid biased interpretation and can be performed through in vivo–in vitro comparison of particle size distributions in food boluses obtained after normal mastication. This kind of validated machine offers the chance to produce boluses for other related uses such as nutrient bioaccessibility or digestion studies, for example. Such an apparatus can also be employed to simulate different dental states or ageing conditions

Mots clés: simulation models; chewing; alimentary bolus

Mots clés: modèle de simulation; mastication; fonction digestive; bol alimentaire

Domaines: Alimentation et Nutrition

Marie-Agnès Peyron, Alain Woda. An update about artificial mastication. Current Opinion in Food Science, 2016, 9, pp.21-28. ⟨10.1016/j.cofs.2016.03.006⟩. ⟨hal-01594489⟩