Capturing the impact of oral processing behaviour on consumption time and dynamic sensory perception of ice creams differing in hardness

Abstract

Little is known about the oral processing behaviour of ice creams for which the quantification of oral manipulations remains challenging. The impact of oral processing behaviour on dynamic sensory perception of ice creams has not been reported previously, although ice creams are anecdotally known to be consumed following different oral processing strategies. The aims of the study were (1) to compare different methodologies to characterise oral behaviours applied during consumption of ice cream, and (2) to understand how oral processing behaviour influences dynamic sensory perception of ice creams. Oral processing behaviour of ice creams was characterized by self-reporting and video recording of n = 103 consumers. Most consumers applied either tongue movements or combined tongue and jaw oral behaviours. The video recording was clearly better than self-reporting in capturing the actually displayed eating behaviour of ice creams. Consumption time was prolonged considerably when ice cream hardness increased or when oral behaviour was changed during Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) evaluations. When ice creams were consumed by letting them melt in mouth, dominance of sweetness and firmness were significantly prolonged. When ice creams were consumed by chewing, dominance of fruity aroma and coldness were significantly prolonged. We conclude that (1) eating behaviour of ice creams is captured better by video recordings than self-reporting and that (2) oral processing behaviour considerably changes dynamic texture and flavour perception of ice creams. This highlights the importance of controlling oral processing behaviour when quantifying sensory properties of ice creams.