Technical note: converting durometer data into elastic modulus in biological materials.

Researchers have increasingly recognized the need to quantify the material properties of primate food items, particularly hardness (H) and stiffness (E), which is measured as elastic modulus. Assessing E in the field is particularly difficult because the typical equipment needed to perform the requisite analyses is expensive and cumbersome. Alternatively, researchers can use hand-held, relatively inexpensive, portable durometers that measure H on Shore scales.