Quantitative Taste Evaluation of Semi Elemental Diets

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the palatability of various semi elemental diets using gustatory sensation tests, the equivalent concentration examining method, the SD method, and an artificial taste sensor. The elemental diets studied were New Ensure liquid^®, (vanilla flavour, coffee flavour, and strawberry flavour products) a new version of the Enure product which has a different sweetener from the previous product and has been commercially available since 2005, and three older products the previous Ensure liquid^® (vanilla, coffee, strawberry), Racol^® (milk flavour, coffee flavour, banana flavour), and Harmonic^®-M.
In testing using the equivalent concentration examining method, the above products were ranked in the following order for sweetness intensity : Harmonic^®-M, previous Ensure liquid^® product, new Ensure liquid^® product, and Racol^®.
In testing by the SD method, we adopted twenty symmetrical items signifying palatability and in the multiple comparison of these items, there were significant differences in the “Tastes bad-Tastes good” and “Week aftertaste-Strong aftertaste” pairs. A factor analysis of the SD results obtained indicated that “evaluation of taste” and “texture, taste reverberation” items contributed greatly to the first and second factors, respectively. In a scatter graph made from the average factor score for each product, products were well grouped.
New Ensure liquid^® had a higher factor score for “evaluation of taste” than the other products, but its factor score for “texture, taste reverberation” was lower.
The evaluation using the artificial taste sensor showed that protein-based enteral nutrients could be grouped and their palatability predicted.