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Descriptive sensory analysis and large‐strain rheological methods were used to evaluate textural characteristics of agar gels as a model food. The gels were differentiated in the same manner by sensory analysis and rheological properties (P ≤ 0.05), and significant correlations between sensory and rheological properties were reported. First bite and chew‐down sensory terms correlated with each other and with fracture properties. Specifically, the first bite sensory term “fracture force” correlated with the chew‐down sensory term “chewiness” (r = 0.99, P ≤ 0.001), and both of these sensory terms were correlated with fracture stress (σf) and modulus (r = 0.94 − 0.97, P ≤ 0.05). The first bite sensory term “deformability” was positively correlated with fracture strain (r = 0.88, P ≤ 0.05) and negatively correlated with the strain‐hardening constant (r = −0.93, P ≤ 0.05). The chew‐down property “particle breakdown” was negatively correlated with σf values (r = −0.97, P ≤ 0.05). For agar gels, each sensory texture term can be linked with a large‐strain mechanical property.

Evidence was found for two previously unreported, nonenzymatic reactions that affected texture retention in acidified red bell peppers. First, oxygen was found to cause rapid softening of the pepper tissue such that it lost at least 40% of the initial tissue firmness within 2 weeks after acidification. Second, sulfite added to the acidified peppers prevented the softening caused by oxygen. Combined addition of sulfite and calcium chloride resulted in better retention of tissue firmness during extended storage than the addition of either component by itself.