Consumer acceptance of roasted peanuts affected by storage temperature and humidity conditions

Consumer acceptance and intensity ratings of roasted peanuts stored at temperatures of 23, 30, 35, and 40 °C, and water activities (a_w) of 0.33, 0.44, 0.54, 0.67 and 0.75 were determined over time. Consumer acceptance ratings, including overall, appearance, color, and texture were affected by storage water activity and time, but not by storage temperature. Consumer intensity ratings of crunchiness were affected by storage water activity and time, but not storage temperature. Aroma acceptance, flavor acceptance, and roasted peanutty and stale/oxidized/rancid intensity ratings of roasted peanuts were dependent on storage temperature, water activity and time.Shelf-life of roasted peanuts was predicted by all consumer attributes (R²>0.60) and was best predicted by aroma acceptance (R²=0.75). Using contour plots with ratings >5.0 for all acceptance attributes, the shelf-life of roasted peanuts stored at 23 °C and between 0.33 and 0.75 a_w was limited by overall acceptance and decreased by approximately 50% with each 0.1 a_w increase. At accelerated temperatures of 30, 35 and 40 °C, shelf-life of roasted peanuts was predominantly limited by flavor acceptance (>5.0), and to a lesser extent by overall acceptance (>5.0). Shelf-life of roasted peanuts stored at accelerated temperatures decreased by 50% or more with each 0.1 a_w increase.     

Influence of Added Soy Presscake and Soy Flour on Some Physical and Sensory Properties of Corn Tortillas

Corn tortillas fortified with soybean presscake (SP) and defatted soy flour (SF) were studied and compared. Texture, including firmness and cohesiveness, and color, using a CIE L^*a^*b^*, were determined instrumentally. Physical properties such as size, thickness, and rollability, were also investigated. A consumer acceptance test was conducted to evaluate the acceptance of tortillas at high levels of soy fortification (35% SF and 40% SP). Tortillas fortified with soy were found to be smaller and thicker with increased firmness and cohesiveness. Tortillas made with SF showed the poorest rollability, and were almost unrollable at high SF fortification levels (30% and 35%). Soy fortified tortillas were more red and yellow than control corn tortillas. In the consumer acceptance test, 40% SP and 35% SF had high overall acceptability scores (6 to 6.6 on a 9‐point scale) based on all participants (n = 76). In addition, overall flavor and texture of both soy fortified corn tortillas scored above 6. Thus, while fortification with SP and SF had significant effects on tortilla size, thickness, firmness, cohesiveness, rollability, and color, these changes were acceptable to consumers.     

Application of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) to the Preference Mapping of Cheese Sticks

ABSTRACT: A novel modeling technique named MARS (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines) can automate variable selection as well as model selection. The main purpose of this study was to apply MARS to consumer preference mapping using consumer test data for cheese sticks. The results show that MARS was capable of modeling consumer's preference patterns for cheese sticks. One distinct advantage of MARS in preference mapping is that it has the ability to model hedonic-scale response variables (such as overall acceptance, acceptance of appearance, flavor, and texture) from "Just About Right" (JAR) predictor variables (such as color, size, saltiness, breading, and cheese texture). In addition, MARS can reveal the underlying relationship between the predictors and the response in a piecewise regression function. This study shows that MARS has potential uncovering underlying patterns hidden in complex data.     

PARAFAC: Adjustment for modeling consumer study covering probiotic and conventional yogurt

The feasibility of the parallel factors model (PARAFAC) as a modeling tool for consumer sensory acceptance data of complex food matrices was investigated. The attributes of aroma, flavor, taste, texture, and overall liking of probiotic and conventional yogurts were evaluated by 120 consumers using a 9-point hedonic hybrid scale. Six yogurt samples were used: three were prototypes supplemented with a glucose oxidase/glucose system, which is a potential oxygen scavenging system, and the other three were commercial yogurts. The yogurts supplemented with the glucose oxidase/glucose system presented similar sensory acceptance towards commercial probiotic and conventional yogurts (p > 0.05), besides having garnered lower mean scores for the sensory attributes. Appearance and overall liking were the most significant attributes for the first two components of the PARAFAC model. Finally, the advantage of using this method to explore the intrinsic nature of consumer sensory data is discussed and compared to principal component analysis (PCA).     

Consumer perceptions of anticake agents on shredded Cheddar cheese

Prepackaged natural cheese shreds are a growing consumer category. Anticake agents are applied to commercial cheese shreds to assist with shelf life and ease of use. The objective of this study was to investigate consumer perception of 3 anticake agents applied at various levels to Cheddar cheese shreds. Three common anticake agents (80% potato starch/20% cellulose blend, 100% potato starch, or potato starch/corn starch/calcium sulfate blend) were applied to duplicate lots of Cheddar cheese shreds at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5% (wt/wt). Control Cheddar cheese shreds with no anticake were also included. Sensory properties (appearance, flavor, texture, and hot texture) were documented using a trained sensory panel (n = 8), and 3 consumer acceptance tests were also conducted. In test 1, consumers (n = 110) visually evaluated liking of cold shred appearance. In test 2, consumers (n = 100) evaluated melted shreds on a flour tortilla for overall liking and appearance, flavor, and texture liking. In test 3, consumers (n = 49) participated in a home usage test. Two-way ANOVA (anticake × anticake application rate) was used to interpret the collected data from each test. Visual appearance of shreds was the primary attribute influenced by anticake application and anticake agent. Trained panel evaluation demonstrated that the 100% potato starch anticake had minimal effects on visual appearance. The other 2 agents (80% potato starch/20% cellulose blend and potato starch/corn starch/calcium sulfate blend) showed increases in visible powder at >3% (wt/wt). Consistent with results from trained panelists, higher application rates decreased consumer appearance and color liking for Cheddar shreds with 80% potato starch/20% cellulose and potato starch/corn starch/calcium sulfate blends at >2 or 3% (wt/wt), respectively. Appearance liking of melted shreds decreased with increased anticake application percent but decreased the most for 100% potato starch anticake at greater than 1% (wt/wt) application. Overall liking, flavor liking, and texture liking attributes for melted shreds were negatively affected at >3% (wt/wt) application regardless of anticake agent used. In general, anticake agents can be applied to Cheddar cheese shreds at up to 3% (wt/wt) with minimal effect on consumer perception.     

Influence of the Addition of Minced Fish on the Preparation of Fish Sausage: Effects on Sensory Properties

In this study, we evaluated the effect of minced fish (MF) inclusion on the acceptance of tilapia sausages. One hundred consumers participated in the sensory acceptance test in relation to the attributes appearance, color, aroma, flavor, texture, overall impression, and purchase intent. The tests were conducted using the same composition of ingredients, varying only the raw material (MF and fillet), resulting in 5 different formulations. To represent the results of the sensory attributes, we generated internal preference maps through principal component analysis and parallel factor analysis, as well as frequency histograms. The data showed greater acceptability for the sample produced with 50% MF, although all had shown satisfactory results. We conclude that inclusion of MF can be suitable in the preparation of fish sausage due to high consumer acceptance.     

Understanding consumer perception of deep-fried battered and breaded coatings

This study aims to investigate three types of deep-fried battered and breadcrumb coatings (fine, medium, and coarse), each coating varying in breadcrumb size. Instrumental testing using X-ray micro-computerized tomography, texture analysis, and acoustic analysis confirms significant differences between each sample in terms of physical and mechanical properties. Four hedonic and 9 sensory attributes were evaluated by 185 consumers for preference and acceptance (9-point scale and just-about-right-scale). Penalty analysis confirmed significant mean drops within all three samples (p < .05), “coarse” having the most and “medium” having the least. This explains “medium” having the overall highest liking score (6.72) and coarse having significantly lower (5.88). Crispness is an important textural attribute representing freshness and quality of deep-fried coatings. However, penalty analysis shows “coarse” coatings with the highest crispness scores, resulting in the greatest significant mean drop (2.01) and lowest overall liking. A combination of flavor, appearance, and texture-related attributes significantly reduce hedonic score (p < .05). Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis confirms three clusters of consumers based on liking for either “coarse,” “medium,” or “fine.” Each of these samples has a significant difference in the microstructure. Chi-square test confirms a significant difference in product quality, purchase intent, and met expectations between samples in each cluster group (p < .05). The findings in this research highlight how differences in microstructure of battered and breaded coatings influence textural properties and consumer preference. This can be applied to a wide battered and breaded goods.     

Sensory profiles and consumer acceptability of a range of sugar-reduced products on the UK market

Current UK intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) is above recommendations. Reducing the sugar content of processed high sugar foods through reformulation is one option for reducing consumption of NMES at a population level. However, reformulation can alter the sensory attributes of food products and influence consumer liking. This study evaluated consumer acceptance of a selection of products that are commercially-available in the UK; these included regular and sugar-reduced baked beans, strawberry jam, milk chocolate, cola and cranberry & raspberry juice. Sweeteners were present in the reformulated chocolate (maltitol), cola (aspartame and acesulfame-K) and juice (sucralose) samples. Healthy, non-smoking consumers (n = 116; 55 men, 61 women, age: 33 ± 9 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m²) rated the products for overall liking and on liking of appearance, flavor and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. There were significant differences between standard and reduced sugar products in consumers' overall liking and on liking of each modality (appearance, flavor and texture; all P < 0.0001). For overall liking, only the regular beans and cola were significantly more liked than their reformulated counterparts (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis identified three consumer clusters that were representative of different patterns of consumer liking. For the largest cluster (cluster 3: 45%), there was a significant difference in mean liking scores across all products, except jam. Differences in liking were predominantly driven by sweet taste in 2 out of 3 clusters. The current research has demonstrated that a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products over sugar-reduced products across a wide range of product types (45%) or across selected products (27%), when tasted unbranded, and so there is room for further optimization of commercial reduced sugar products that were evaluated in the current study. Future work should evaluate strategies to facilitate compliance to dietary recommendations on NMES and free sugars, such as the impact of sugar-reduced food exposure on their acceptance.