Abstract
To limit sugar consumption and maintain sweetness levels in the diet, food and beverage developers often use high potency sweeteners (HPSs) as alternatives. Steviol glycosides are considered a consumer-friendly alternative but they are perceived to have a bitter taste accompanied by sweet and bitter lingering. Recently, taste modulators have been discovered that help to alleviate negative attributes like bitterness of HPSs. To show that taste modulation compounds (TMCs) decrease perceived bitterness associated with steviol glycosides, a trained descriptive panel (n = 9) performed a single-attribute time-intensity (TI) assessment over 2 min. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze TI curves and curve parameters (AUC, Imax and Tmax). Principal components analysis (PCA) was also used to assess TI curves. Results showed that statistically significant results depended on the analysis method. Bitterness perception was shown to persist less over 2 min for steviol glycosides with TMCs when assessing raw scores and parameters. The same was not found using differences from control curves or weighted curves from PCA. These findings demonstrate that particular TMCs may subtly decrease perceived bitterness of steviol glycosides. However, business objectives of TMC use may dictate what kind of analysis method to use when analyzing perceived bitter perception of TMCs over time.
Highlights
Product development in the food and beverage industry is currently focused on reducing added sugar which is highly associated with obesity risk and obesity-related illness, i.e., type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases [1,2]
The same was not found using differences from control curves or weighted curves from Principal components analysis (PCA). These findings demonstrate that particular taste modulation compounds (TMCs) may subtly decrease perceived bitterness of steviol glycosides
Average bitterness curves of steviol glycosides with TMCs were lower over time than steviol glycosides alone (p < 0.001)
Summary
Product development in the food and beverage industry is currently focused on reducing added sugar which is highly associated with obesity risk and obesity-related illness, i.e., type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases [1,2]. In an effort to lower the amount of added sugars in the diet, many companies use high potency sweeteners (HPSs), such as extracts of Stevia rebaudiana amongst others. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved six HPSs for use as food additives in the United States: Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sucralose, neotame and advantame [3]. Steviol glycosides received a generally regarded as safe (GRAS) status which does not require FDA approval as a food additive [4], and this status has driven consumer desire for steviol glycosides over many artificial sweeteners [5]. Steviol glycosides are less acceptable than sucrose due to lost mouthfeel, bitterness, lingering aftertastes [6,7], astringency [6] and licorice or metallic off flavors [6,8,9]. Stevioside and Rebaudioside (Reb) A have been of most commercial interest, but other derivations of steviol glycosides have recently been promoted, including Reb B, D and
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call