Article ID: NSKKK-D-24-00001
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the correlations between instrument measurements and sensory attributes of thickened liquids. For this purpose, a series of thickened liquids was prepared using different thickening agent contents from different sources, which were evaluated by sensory analysis for sensory attributes and by instrument measurements for specific physical properties. The texture attributes (hardness, ease of swallowing, and coating (oral cavity, residual feeling in the throat)) of 12 thickened liquid samples were investigated by sensory evaluation. The investigators were 10 panelists trained in evaluating sensory attributes. The line spread test (LST) and the short back extrusion (SBE) method were used for the instrumental analysis. The correlation coefficient between physical properties and each sensory evaluation value was also determined. The results showed that the apparent viscosity from viscosity measurements was highly correlated with each sensory attribute. As thickened liquid is a non-Newtonian fluid, the apparent viscosity was dependent on the shear rate. Hence, the instrumental texture perception of sol (thickened liquid) based on the oral cavity condition could be used to predict human texture perception based on the shear rate, which was obtained from the apparent viscosity similar to gel (strawberry jam). These results indicate that the SBE method is better than the LST for measuring the texture attributes of thickened liquids.
