The objective of this study was to develop a sensory lexicon for dairy protein hydrolysates (DPHs) produced from whey and casein substrates. To create the lexicon, 25 DPHs were assessed by a trained sensory panel (n = 8) using the spectrum descriptive analysis method using a 15-point intensity scale. The sensory panel identified over 43 attributes present in the DPHs, the attributes that occurred the most frequently formed the refined lexicon of 19 attributes, which were then scaled by their intensity. Principal component analysis was employed to visualize the relationships between attributes and samples. The DPHs were separated by their attributes as whey protein hydrolysates were found to have a more complex flavor profile than casein hydrolysates, which were found to be bitter, astringent and metallic. The attribute that was found to clearly characterize the DPH samples was bitterness as the taste occurred in all samples and many of which were of high intensity.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSDairy protein hydrolysates (DPHs) are a variety of food ingredient that is of interest to the food industry for their functionality within foods, their nutritional profile and their bioactivity. However, it has been reported in previous studies that DPHs can have undesirable sensory attributes. This sensory lexicon was created to allow for a more systematic and quantitative approach to characterizing sensory attributes of DPH. Such information would be valuable to manufacturers contemplating on the use of DPH as ingredients in foods, allowing the evaluation of the impact of DPH on product sensory properties as well as helping to direct any masking strategies required. While lexicons for whey-based DPHs have been published, this work represents the first attempt to develop a combined lexicon for DPH based on either whey or casein. The principal component analysis based on descriptor scores shows clear differences between the sensory attributes of whey protein and casein-based DPHs.
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