How a Spanish Group of Millennial Generation Perceives the Commercial Novel Smoothies?

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) constantly emphasize the importance of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption; these natural products help in the prevention of major diseases. Smoothies are a simple and convenient way of doing so; thus, their demand is constantly growing and their market is becoming important for the food industry. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine Millennial consumer opinion towards novel fruit- and vegetable-smoothies available on the retail market. Napping®, descriptive sensory analysis, and consumer studies were conducted. Napping® results group samples into four clusters of smoothies; the main grouping factor was the type of fruit and the percentage of vegetables. Penalty analysis showed that smoothies need improvement mainly dealing with sweetness, bitterness, and vegetable flavors. Millennial consumers formed a homogeneous sensory group in which the overall liking was negatively correlated with the level of sweetness, and earthy, carrot, beetroot, and pear flavors. The key liking drivers were sourness and notes of mango, banana, and peach flavors. This research is a new insight into the perception of smoothies, provides comprehensive knowledge for the food industry, and can guide the design of new healthy smoothies.

Functionality and Palatability of Yogurt Produced Using Beetroot Pomace Flour Granulated with Lactic Acid Bacteria

“…Data reported in the literature related to the sensory analysis of beet dairy beverages are quite diverse. Smoothies with beets had high acceptability in terms of color, but the intense earthy flavor was not described as pleasant [12]. However, yogurt enriched with beetroot powder gained higher acceptance for color, texture, flavor, and overall acceptability [13].…”

“…The considerable potential of BP utilizations lays in the high dietary fiber (DF) content [5,6], a moderate caloric value, and the significant amount of antioxidants (AOs), such as nitrogenous pigments (betacyanins and betaxanthins) and polyphenolics (ferulic, protocatechuic, gallic and caffeic acid, catechin, and myricetin) [7][8][9]. To date, beetroot has been used as an ingredient in fermented juice, cereal bars, beetroot-enriched bread [10], chips [11], vegetable-based smoothies [12], and yogurts [13]. The majority of listed products contain lactic acid bacteria (LAB) [10,11,13].…”

Projective mapping as a versatile sensory profiling tool: A review of recent studies on different food products

“…On average, the PM task with consumers used 55.2 participants with a large SD of 36.9. The smallest numbers of consumers included in a study are approximately around 10–15 participants (Drake, Lopetcharat, & Drake, 2009; Kennedy, 2010; Mielby, Hopfer, Jensen, Thybo, & Heymann, 2014; Speight, Schiano, Harwood, & Drake, 2019), but most studies used at least 50 or more consumers, while some studies recruited over 100 consumers (Cano‐Lamadrid et al, 2020; Lezaeta, Bordeu, Næs, & Varela, 2017; Ribeiro et al, 2020).…”

New Insight on Phenolic Composition and Evaluation of the Vitamin C and Nutritional Value of Smoothies Sold on the Spanish Market

“…These drinks were first introduced in the United States in the 1960s and later, in the 2000s, they became popular again [ 27 ]. Smoothies are defined as non-alcoholic beverages prepared from fruits and/or vegetables, fresh or frozen, which are crushed until they achieve a homogeneous appearance [ 28 , 29 ]. In fact, the name “smoothie” comes from the English “smooth” due to its appearance, since this type of drink is not filtered, unlike juices, so that it preserves the pulp and fiber, giving it a denser, more even appearance [ 28 ].…”