Perception of Bitter Taste through Time-Intensity Measurements as Influenced by Taste Modulation Compounds in Steviol Glycoside Sweetened Beverages

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.

Novel Beverages and Novel Technologies for Their Production

“…High potency sweeteners (HPSs) such as steviol glycosides are used to replace sugar in many beverages. In the second study, Pierce-Feldmeyer and colleagues wanted to test a single-attribute time-intensity (TI) assessment in order to examine the ability of certain taste modulation compounds (TMCs) to decrease the bitterness associated with steviol glycosides [2]. The TI evaluation essentially records in a dynamic manner the sensory perception after a single exposure to the sensory stimulus over a certain period of time [3].…”