Powder thickeners are used to modify liquid consistency in dysphagia management. These thickeners may contain starches, gums or their mixtures. Since the salivary alpha-amylase enzyme favours starch hydrolysis, this might affect the overall rheology of thickened fluids. This study provides a first insight into the impact of salivary alpha-amylase on the elongational properties of different types of thickened fluids, differentiating between gum-based and starch-based fluids, when considering the axial force developed during uniaxial elongation. The experimental results obtained in this study showed a dramatic decrease in the axial force as a result of salivary alpha-amylase addition to a pudding-like starch-based thickened fluid, while no significant change was observed after addition to a pudding-like gum-based thickened fluid. Monitoring axial forces during the stretching phase of CaBER was found to be a quick alternative method to identify structural changes of pudding-like thickened fluids in the presence of saliva, for which the conventional CaBER experiments are technically limited. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.