Sensory Interactions between Sweetness and Fat in a Chocolate Milk Beverage.

Fat and sugar-reduced foods and beverages have become increasingly popular for a variety of reasons, mainly relating to health and wellbeing. Depending on the food or beverage, it may be difficult to reduce the fat and/or sugar content and still maintain optimal sensory properties for the specific product. One way of approaching the problem is to gain a better understanding of how a product is affected by a reduction in fat and/or sugar. This paper aims to investigate the sensory interactions between fat and sweetness perception in a chocolate-flavored milk beverage by using a descriptive analysis with a trained sensory panel. The reduction of fat significantly reduced the sweetness intensity of the chocolate milk, while the reduction of sucrose significantly decreased the cream flavor and the fruity and lactic flavor. The perception of acesulfame-K was affected by fat concentration, similarly to sucrose. These results highlight the importance of considering the effects of reducing either sugar and fat on product attributes that are not directly related to the sugar or fat.

Assessing mechanisms behind crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts.

In the last decades, there has been a growing interest in crossmodal correspondences, including those involving temperature. However, only a few studies have explicitly examined the underlying mechanisms behind temperature-related correspondences. Here, we investigated the relative roles of an underlying affective mechanism and a semantic path (i.e., regarding the semantic knowledge related to a single common source identity or meaning) in crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts using an associative learning paradigm. Two online experiments using visual textures previously shown to be associated with low and high thermal effusivity (Experiment 1) and visual textures with no consensual associations with thermal effusivity (Experiment 2) were conducted. Participants completed a speeded categorization task before and after an associative learning task, in which they learned mappings between the visual textures and specific affective or semantic stimuli related to low and high temperatures. Across the two experiments, both the affective and semantic mappings influenced the categorization of visual textures with the hypothesized temperatures, but there was no influence on the reaction times. The effect of learning semantic mappings was larger than that of affective ones in both experiments, suggesting that a semantic path has more weight than an affective mechanism in the formation of the associations studied here. The associations studied here could be modified through associative learning establishing correlations between visual textures and either affective or semantic stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Novel cadaverine non-invasive biosensor technology for the prediction of shelf life of modified atmosphere packed pork cutlets.

Food waste in perishable products calls for the development of cost-efficient and real-time freshness and shelf life assessment tools. The current study evaluated a newly developed cadaverine biosensor for its ability to assess the sensory freshness stage and microbial quality of modified atmosphere packed (MAP) pork cutlets under a realistic supply chain scenario. The experiment compared the cadaverine levels measured by the biosensor to liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) cadaverine concentrations, and associated these to the shelf life estimation and freshness states determined by sensory and microbial evaluations during an 18-day storage period (5 °C). Results underlined the potential of cadaverine as a freshness biomarker as well as the applicability of the biosensor as a shelf life prediction tool. This is supported by the correlations obtained between sensory odour freshness evaluation and total viable counts with biosensor cadaverine levels for which the r obtained were 0.97 (<0.001) and 0.95 (<0.001), respectively.

Sounds Healthy: Modelling sound-evoked consumer food choice through visual attention.

Food choice is a multifaceted construct that is not solely guided by our internal incentives. In fact, sensory scientist, consumer psychologists, and marketers have demonstrated that external ambient cues, including background music, can influence myriads of subconscious consumer behaviors, effectively leading to increased sales of food and beverages. However, the vast majority of literature in on this topic has thus far been confined to monocultural field studies in which the underlying mechanisms of food choice are unexplored. We therefore studied the explicit and implicit effects of custom-composed soundtracks on food choices and eye-movements in consumers from both 'East' and 'West'. Firstly, based on the results from a pre-study (N = 396), we composed a 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' soundtrack. Subsequently, we recruited 215 participants from China (n = 114) and Denmark (n = 101) respectively for in an in-laboratory eye-tracking food choice paradigm. For each culture, half of the participants listened to the 'healthy' soundtrack and the other half to the 'unhealthy' soundtrack during the experiment. Chi-square tests of independence revealed that across cultures, the healthy (vs. unhealthy) soundtrack led to more healthy food choices. Similarly, the generalized linear mixed models showed that the healthy soundtrack induced more and longer fixations on healthy (vs. unhealthy) food. Finally, a multiple mediation analysis signified a partial mediation effect of sound on food choice through the mediators of fixation duration, fixation count, and revisit count. Our results indicate that, with strategically chosen soundscapes, it is possible to influence consumers' decision-making processes and guide their attention towards healthier foods, providing valuable knowledge for local as well as global food business.

The Effects of Ethnically Congruent Music on Eye Movements and Food Choice-A Cross-Cultural Comparison between Danish and Chinese Consumers.

Musical fit refers to the congruence between music and attributes of a food or product in context, which can prime consumer behavior through semantic networks in memory. The vast majority of research on this topic dealing with musical fit in a cultural context has thus far been limited to monocultural groups in field studies, where uncontrolled confounds can potentially influence the study outcome. To overcome these limitations, and in order to explore the effects of ethnically congruent music on visual attention and food choice across cultures, the present study recruited 199 participants from China (n = 98) and Denmark (n = 101) for an in-laboratory food choice paradigm with eye-tracking data collection. For each culture group, the study used a between-subject design with half of the participants listening to only instrumental "Eastern" music and the other half only listening to instrumental "Western" music, while both groups engaged in a food choice task involving "Eastern" and "Western" food. Chi-square tests revealed a clear ethnic congruency effect between music and food choice across culture, whereby Eastern (vs. Western) food was chosen more during the Eastern music condition, and Western (vs. Eastern) food was chosen more in the Western music condition. Furthermore, results from a generalized linear mixed model suggested that Chinese participants fixated more on Western (vs. Eastern) food when Western music was played, whereas Danish participants fixated more on Eastern (vs. Western) food when Eastern music was played. Interestingly, no such priming effects were found when participants listened to music from their own culture, suggesting that music-evoked visual attention may be culturally dependent. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that ambient music can have a significant impact on consumers' explicit and implicit behaviors, while at the same time highlighting the importance of culture-specific sensory marketing applications in the global food industry.

Sweetness Enhancement by Aromas: Measured by Descriptive Sensory Analysis and Relative to Reference Scaling.

Sweetness enhancement by aromas has been suggested as a strategy to mitigate sugar reduction in food products, but enhancement is dependent on type of aroma and sugar level. A careful screening of aromas across sugar levels is thus required. Screening results might, however, depend on the method employed. Both descriptive sensory analysis and relative to reference scaling were therefore used to screen 5 aromas across 3 sucrose concentrations for their sweetness-enhancing effects in aqueous solutions. In the descriptive analysis, samples with added vanilla, honey, and banana aroma were rated as significantly sweeter than samples with added elderflower or raspberry aroma at all sucrose concentrations. In relative to reference scaling, honey aroma significantly increased the sweet taste compared with samples with added elderflower or no aroma at low and medium sucrose concentrations. Banana and raspberry aromas also increased the sweet taste significantly compared with the sample with added elderflower aroma at medium sucrose concentration in the relative to reference scaling. This demonstrates that the cross-modal effects observed by the 2 methods were different. In terms of the methods applied, relative to reference scaling was generally found to result in a decrease in the measured sweetness enhancement by aromas. In the descriptive analysis, the cross-modal effect of aromas on sweet taste perception was found to be significantly higher at 2.5% and 5.0% w/w sucrose compared with 7.5% w/w sucrose. These results highlight the importance of considering how references are employed in sensory analysis and how they affect cross-modal interactions.

A Comparison of Two Sensory Panels Trained with Different Feedback Calibration Range Specifications via Sensory Description of Five Beers.

Feedback on panel performance is traditionally provided by the panel leader, following an evaluation session. However, a novel method for providing immediate feedback to panelists was proposed, the Feedback Calibration Method (FCM). The aim of the current study was to compare the performance of two panels trained by using FCM with two different approaches for ranges calibration, namely self-calibrated and fixed ranges. Both panels were trained using FCM for nine one-hour sessions, followed by a sensory evaluation of five beer samples (in replicates). Results showed no difference in sample positioning in the sensory space by the two panels. Furthermore, the panels' discriminability was also similar, while the self-calibrated panel had the highest repeatability. The results from the average distance from target and standard deviations showed that the self-calibrated panel had the lowest distance from target and standard deviation throughout all sessions. However, the decrease in average distance from target and standard deviations over training sessions was similar among panels, meaning that the increase in performance was similar. The fact that both panels had a similar increase in performance and yielded similar sensory profiles indicates that the choice of target value calibration method is unimportant. However, the use of self-calibrated ranges could introduce an issue with the progression of the target scores over session, which is why the fixed target ranges should be applied, if available.

Effect of Product Involvement on Panels' Vocabulary Generation, Attribute Identification, and Sample Configurations in Beer.

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of two semi-trained panels with different degrees of self-reported beer involvement in terms of beer consumption pattern. The two panels were beer non-drinkers (indicating willingness to taste beer) and craft-style beer drinkers. Eleven modified beer samples were evaluated during three separate tasks by both panels. The tasks were (1) a vocabulary generation on a sample level, (2) an attribute identification task with a list of attributes to choose from, and (3) a descriptive analysis. The performance of the two panels was evaluated and compared using three parameters, as follows: Descriptive similarity, attribute knowledge similarity, and perceptual similarity. The results showed that the craft-style beer drinkers generated the most precise vocabulary and correctly identified more attributes, compared to the beer non-drinkers. Furthermore, the sample sensory spaces generated by the two panels were different before the training period, but were perceptually similar post training. To conclude, the beer consumption pattern influenced all aspects of panel performance before training, with the craft-style panel performing better than the non-drinkers panel. However, the panels' performance became more similar after a short period of training sessions.

Culinary preparation effects on lipid and sensory quality of farmed gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and meagre (Argyrosomus regius): An inter-species comparison.

The nutritional and sensory quality of a fish fillet is subject to alterations depending on the culinary method used for preparation. The current study aimed to explore the effects of custom culinary preparation methods (steaming, oven-cooking, frying) on the fillet lipid and sensory quality of two important Mediterranean farmed fish species varying in their tissue fat content. These included, lean meagre and medium-fat gilthead seabream. The results indicated that culinary treatment effects on lipid quality differed among species, especially for frying. Frying created unique sensory profiles, whereas steam- and oven-cooking resulted in similar sensory profiles per species. The variable effects of culinary treatments on the lipid and sensory quality indicate that the choice of preparation method should be related to the fish species and its fat content.

Investigation of sensory profiles and hedonic drivers of emerging aquaculture fish species.

BACKGROUND: The aquaculture sector needs to increase the diversity fish species and their processed products to cover rising consumer demands. Candidates for this diversification have been identified to be meagre, greater amberjack, pikeperch and wreckfish. Yet scientific knowledge on their sensory profiles and consumer hedonic responses is scarce. The aim of the current study was to investigate these aspects, since they are essential for product development and market targeting. RESULTS: Species exhibited different sensory profiles with the exception of the odor/flavor profiles of meagre and greater amberjack, which were similar. Texture was more important than odor/flavor in explaining interspecies differences. Yet the hedonic responses were equally related to texture and odor/flavor. None of the species received negative hedonic scores. Both positive and negative hedonic drivers were identified within the odor/flavor and texture modalities. CONCLUSION: The distinct profiles of meagre, greater amberjack, pikeperch and wreckfish make these fish species valuable first materials for new product development and for covering markets with different sensory preferences. Differences in fish texture are more easily perceivable, yet small variations in fish odor/flavor can have a great impact on consumers' hedonic responses. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Future development, innovation and promotion of European unique food: an interdisciplinary research framework perspective.

Unique food products constitute a very important element of European food business, culture, identity and heritage. Understanding the uniqueness of food in Europe from a research-based interdisciplinary perspective will be a critical factor in promoting the competitiveness of artisanal food industries going forward both locally and internationally. Success will support the competitiveness of the European food industry, in particular, small and medium enterprises, by enabling substantial product differentiation potential for producers and providing ample variety in food choice for the consumer. In addition, it will contribute to promotion of sustainable agriculture and development of rural areas, protecting them from depopulation. In order to meet the demands of a developing fundamental shift in European Union agricultural focus to greener, sustainable farming practices and wider rural development and to ensure success for local small-scale producers, this paper discusses the future direction of research in the field of unique European foods. The paper presents a perspective which promotes optimisation and innovation in unique food products in Europe through the integration of advanced knowledge and technologies. A framework is presented covering location, identity, perception and well-being as research areas needing synergy to bridge the research knowledge deficit in determination and specification of food identity in the European Union. The ultimate aim being promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development, particularly in territories across the European Union where unique food is strategically and scientifically under-defined.

Sensory profiling of textural properties of meat from dairy cows exposed to a compensatory finishing strategy.

A compensatory finishing strategy was evaluated to improve the quality of meat from dairy cows. The experiment included ten pairs of Holstein Friesian dairy cows. Each pair was the progeny of the same sire, in the same parity, and approximately at the same number of days in lactation before entering the experiment. Within each pair, one cow was allocated to a compensatory finishing strategy, dried off for 4 days, and further restricted in energy intake for another 17 days followed by 6 weeks of ad libitum feeding. The strategy improved the sensory texture and flavour of both M. longissimus dorsi (LD) and M. semimembranosus (SM). This was supported by lower shear force in both muscles (P<0.02). The effect can be ascribed to various factors; in LD an increased amount of IMF plays a significant role, whereas in SM an increased protein turnover is suggested to be the dominating factor.

Compensatory growth response as a strategy to enhance tenderness in entire male and female pork M. longissimus thoracis.

The effects of restrictive feeding strategies aimed at promoting a compensatory growth response were investigated with respect to tenderness improvement in pork M. longissimus thoracis. Compensatory growth response is defined by increased weight in pigs fed ad libitum after a period with restricted feeding compared to pigs fed ad libitum the entire fattening period. Specifically, the aim was to study the sensory textural characteristics after female and entire male pigs have been exposed to restrictions in either energy, protein or both in specific growth periods. It was found that textural differences were caused by feeding strategies and not related to variation in intramuscular fat, which did not vary significantly between genders. The female pigs demonstrated compensatory growth response and the texture was significantly (P<0.001) improved by low dietary level of energy from day 50 to 90 and normal dietary level of protein during the entire feeding period. For the entire male pigs, low level of protein in the late feeding period significantly (P<0.05) improved the texture. Also, low level of protein and normal level of energy in the early feeding period resulted in improved tenderness. However, these texture improvements were deemed not to be an effect of compensatory growth since the entire male pigs did not compensate for the feeding restriction in the early feeding period. The tenderness enhancement for the entire male pigs compromised the production results in terms of 7-15% lower carcass weight.

Perceptual masking of boar taint in Swedish fermented sausages.

Surgical castration of male piglets has traditionally been practiced to avoid development of boar taint in pork meat which can occur if entire male pigs are raised. Boar taint is commonly characterised as exhibiting the odour and flavour of urine and manure. This study involves sensory characterisation of the possibilities to mask boar taint in meat from entire male pigs by fermentation and smoking to maintain high sensory quality in meat products if castration is prohibited. Model and commercial type Swedish fermented sausage products based on low or high levels of boar tainted fat, three different starter cultures and two different levels of smoking were studied. In the model sausages, liquid smoke masked the perception of boar taint. In contrast, the smoking procedure of the commercial sausages was insufficient to totally mask the perception of boar taint. In both the model and commercial sausages, the aroma development from the starter cultures lowered the perception of boar taint but was insufficient for total perceptual masking. Due to the total masking effect of smoking in the model sausages, it was clear that smoke may present a potential solution to remove the perception of boar taint in fermented sausages if the smoking procedure is optimised.

Sensory shelf life determination of a processed meat product 'rullepølse' and microbial metabolites as potential indicators.

Sensory profiling was performed for a Danish lightly fermented heat-processed cold cut pork product termed 'rullepølse'. Product samples were stored under modified atmosphere (MAP, 30% CO(2)/70% N(2)) for 0, 28 and 34days and with subsequent aerobic storage for 4days (MAP-OPEN) at temperatures of 4°C and 8°C. Microbial growth and metabolism was also measured with a focus on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their organic acid metabolites including lactic acid, acetic acid and α-ketoisocaproic acid. These acids were examined for sensory shelf life indexing potential for the 'rullepølse'. Storage temperature exerted distinct impacts on the sensory characterised shelf life of 'rullepølse' stored under MAP and MAP-OPEN conditions. The MAP stored 'rullepølse' with subsequent 4days storage in air (MAP-OPEN) could be stored for at least 28days at 4°C without a decrease in the sensory quality when opened. Whilst MAP stored 'rullepølse' at 8°C with subsequent open storage (MAP-OPEN), compared to the lower temperature displayed a reduced shelf life of less than 28days if sensory quality of the 'rullepølse' was to be maintained. The stage of sensory deterioration was correlated with high bacterial counts exceeding 10(6)CFUg(-1). With respect to indexing ability of the examined organic acids none were found to have clear potential for prediction of the sensory deterioration.

A sensory description of boar taint and the effects of crude and dried chicory roots (Cichorium intybus L.) and inulin feeding in male and female pork.

Sensory profiling studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of chicory root (Cichorium intybus L.) and inulin bioactive feeding with respect to reducing the 'off-flavour' boar taint in intact male and female pork Longissimus dorsi and Psoas major. Feeding treatments significantly reduced perceived sensory boar taint in the cooked pork meat of intact males in both muscles. There were also indications that crude chicory was also effective in taint descriptor reduction in female pork, however not to the same systematic level as in male animals. Chemical measurements for skatole and androstenone were highly predictive of specific sensory descriptors of boar taint reduction. Feeding of crude, dried chicory and inulin were also determined not to impart negative sensory characteristics upon boar taint reduction. Chicory feeding therefore must be considered to have the potential for utilisation as part of a strategy for boar taint reduction in intact male pork.

Feeding strategy for improving tenderness has opposite effects in two different muscles.

Compensatory growth has been shown to affect rate of muscle protein turnover and may potentially improve tenderness of beef. Thus, a study of tenderness in relation to feeding regime and slaughtering at a time with maximal muscle protein degradation was performed. Friesian bull calves (5-month-old) were fed either ad libitum (n=6) (AA) or restrictively for 3 months followed by re-alimentation for 6 weeks (n=6) (RA) before slaughter at 10 months. At slaughter the fractional breakdown rate of muscle protein was 2.4% in RA compared with 1.6% in AA (P<0.06). Sensory profiling revealed superior texture of M. semimembranosus from RA compared with AA, whereas M. longissimus was superior in texture from AA compared with RA, with no difference in proteolysis and shear force. In conclusion it was clear that different muscles in terms of tenderness responded very differently to the nutritional manipulation.

Effect of feeding fermentable fibre-rich feedstuffs on meat quality with emphasis on chemical and sensory boar taint in entire male and female pigs.

Skatole, androstenone and other compounds such as indole cause boar taint in entire male pork. However, female pigs also produce skatole and indole. The purpose of this experiment was to minimise boar taint and increase overall impression of sensory quality by feeding entire male and female pigs with fibre-rich feedstuffs. The pigs have been fed three organic diets for either 1 or 2 weeks prior to slaughter of which two diets contained different fermentable fibre-rich feedstuffs - 10-13.3% dried chicory roots or 25% blue lupines. These two treatments were compared with pigs fed with an organic control diet for either 1 or 2 weeks prior to slaughter. Lupines significantly reduced skatole in blood and backfat for both genders after 1 week. Moreover, lupines showed negative impact on growth rate and feed conversion whilst chicory showed no significant differences in this respect. However, the indole concentration was significantly lower in chicory than lupine fed pigs. From a sensory perspective, chicory and lupine feeding reduced boar taint since odour and flavour of manure related to skatole and urine associated to androstenone were minimised. The level of boar taint in the entire male pigs was most effectively reduced after 14 days by both fibre-rich feeds while lupine had the largest influence on "boar" taint reduction in female pigs.

The impact of sensory quality of pork on consumer preference.

Danish consumers from Roskilde, a town near the Danish capital Copenhagen (n=213), and from Holstebro, a provincial town in the north-western part of Jutland (n=162), rated nine different samples of pork on an unstructured hedonic scale from "do not like at all" to "like very much". The samples represented variation in raw meat quality (pH, IMF and carcass weight), muscle (LD and BF), origin (Danish/French Pay Basque), cooking method (pan/oven) and end point temperature (65°C/75°C). The meat was described by sensory profiling and chemical and physical analysis (pH, fat, water, colour, fatty acid composition). All the consumers preferred tender, juicy meat with a fried flavour and no off-flavours. However, within this description there were differences. The consumers from Holstebro put more emphasis on tenderness and the absence of off-flavours, while the consumers in Roskilde preferred the fried flavour. The young consumers put less emphasis on tenderness, compared with consumers aged over 30 years, but preferred instead some crumbliness in the meat. A segmentation of the consumers showed that about 6% of the consumers were only influenced by flavour attributes in their preference. In contrast, 12% of the consumers were mainly influenced by texture irrespective of flavour attributes other than sour-like taste. Most of the consumers were, however, influenced by both flavour and texture as well as appearance.

Application of an electronic nose for measurements of boar taint in entire male pigs.

An electronic nose based on ion mobility spectrometry was used for boar taint measurements of entire male pig samples varying in androstenone and skatole levels (0.09-0.88µg/g fat and 0.01-0.26µg/g fat, respectively). Sensory perceptible boar taint (especially boar odour) was found to be more related to androstenone than to skatole, whereas a rancid note was determined more related to skatole than to androstenone. Multivariate models implementing some generally prescribed cut-off limits for androstenone (0.50µg/g) and skatole (0.21µg/g) indicated that the e-nose could be used for ordering samples with respect to low and high levels of androstenone and skatole. Studying the direct relationships between e-nose data, sensory data, androstenone and skatole showed better predictivity of the chemical compounds (androstenone: r=-0.948, RMSEP=0.309; skatole: r=-0.629, RMSEP=0.069) than for single sensory descriptors (boar odour r=0.409, RMSEP=0.789). The results thus suggest that the e-nose technology based on ion mobility spectrometry as in the MGD-1 may have a potential for future rapid sorting of boars at the slaughter line. The study provides new knowledge of the applicability of ion mobility spectrometry for measuring boar taint and also confirms the challenge of measuring boar taint using chemically determined cut-off limits for a sensory perceptible phenomenon. Thus, future development should be more devoted to developing holistic approaches rather than focusing on the influence of single variables on boar taint.