Texture properties of foods are particular drivers for food acceptance and rejection in children. The texture preferences follow the developmental progression of the child and these changes modulate the present and future food habits. This paper reviews the development and factors influencing texture preferences in children and the methods in food texture research with children. The child’s acceptance of more complex food textures is age-dependent. The progression is indorsed by the development of oral processing skills at an early age and bolstered by repeated exposures to foods with varying textures. Children generally reject foods containing pieces or bits (i.e., geometrical textural properties); however, the impact of mechanical textural properties on food acceptance is less clear. Child characteristics such as food neophobia, picky eating, and tactile over-responsivity, negatively affect the acceptance of more diverse food textures. Depending on the child’s age, the prevailing methods of characterizing food texture preferences in children include observational techniques and self-reported questionnaires. Despite knowledge of children’s development of masticatory skills, learning, and cognitive abilities, the relationships of these changes to food texture acceptance and the recommended test methodology for evaluating product texture acceptance in this period of life are still limited.

Bovine (meat and heart) and porcine (hemoglobin and plasma) raw materials were hydrolyzed by Protease A (both endo- and exopeptidase activity), with or without glucosamine added during the enzyme inactivation step. Hydrolysates were characterized via peptide analysis (yield, UV- and fluorescence scanning spectroscopy, and peptide size distribution via size exclusion chromatography), sensory evaluation, and volatile compound analysis via gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine if glucosamine-induced Maillard reaction improved taste and flavor. Porcine hemoglobin produced the most flavor-neutral hydrolysate, and could expectedly have the broadest application in food products. Both bovine meat and -heart hydrolysates were high in umami, and thereby good candidates for savory applications. Porcine plasma hydrolysate was high in liver flavor and would be suitable for addition to certain meat products where liver flavor is desirable. All hydrolysates had low perceived bitterness. Glucosamine-induced Maillard reaction had just a minor influence on the sensory profile via an increased perception of sweet taste (p = 0.038), umami taste (p = 0.042), and yolk flavor (p = 0.038) in the hydrolysates, irrespective of raw material. Glucosamine addition had a statistically significant effect on 13 of 69 volatiles detected in the hydrolysates, but the effect was minor and raw material-specific.

Foods containing bits and pieces are often less liked by children; however, there is a limited understanding of how perceptions and preferences for foods with particles change during childhood. This study aimed to investigate preferences and perceptions of particle‐containing foods in children aged 5–12 years. Children (n = 485) completed a forced‐choice questionnaire on drawings of six pairs of foods, each available with or without particles. Additionally, children tasted yogurts added with muesli differing in particle size (median diameter: 3.9 or 7.5 mm) and evaluated their perception of particle size in mouth and their liking. The questionnaire results showed that children had a clear preference for foods without particles. The average probability of choosing the ‘with‐particle’ foods was 28%, significantly below the midpoint of 50% (p < .0001). Preferences for particle‐containing foods were lowest at age six and increased significantly with age (p = .0007). In the taste test, muesli particle size affected oral size perception (p < .0001) but not liking (p = .60). Older children were better able to differentiate particle size than younger children. However, there was no relationship between individual preferences for particle‐containing foods and oral size perception of muesli particles. The observation that children's texture preferences changed with age highlights the role of increased experience in shaping preferences for foods with particles.