The primary aim of this work is to develop a mechanistic framework to predict texture development during processing of food materials. This is achieved through fundamentals-based modeling of transport and deformation integrated with relevant experimentation to study a variety of food processes. Factors characterizing texture development in foods can, in principle, be expressed as functions of the state and history of a product in a particular process. The emphasis therefore lies on accurate prediction of key process parameters that include temperature, moisture, stresses, strains and their evolution during a process. Additionally, state of the food material (rubbery or glassy) is needed to accurately characterize various transport and mechanical properties that critically affect the final texture of the food material. Thus, quantitative information from such physics-based models can be used to design better quality food products along with optimized and efficient food processes. For the purpose of mathematical modeling, foods can be treated as porous materials that comprise of a solid matrix with water and gas occupying the pore space. During a food process, the different fluid phases undergo various modes of transport bringing in a change of state of the food material (rubbery/glassy) while the solid matrix deforms that alters the material structure (geometry/porosity). The change of state affects deformation characteristics while a change in material structure alters the transport phenomena within the material. The complex interaction between change of state and material structure eventually manifest in the final texture of the food material in a given process. This dissertation therefore seeks to understand and address such complex interactions involved in food texture development and provide a generic framework for texture prediction during processing of food materials for a variety of industrially relevant food processes. Thus, through a series of modeling efforts, the role of transport processes, material deformation and phase transformations is understood for different classes of food processes (drying, puffing, microwave heating) and some key textural attributes associated with a particular process are predicted in a mechanistic way.