Sensory Evaluation of Brewed Black Tea (Camellia sinensis sp) and Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bert) Leaves. Case Study: Threshold of Phenolic Bitterness Consumer Preference Test

Abstract

Currently the consumer needs for anti-diabetic products are very large and require answer from healthy food provider answers. Products that are commonly known are tea and stevia. Tea and stevia have advantages as an antioxidant and anti-diabetic. The use of commercially available products is very depended on sensory characteristics which can be accepted by consumers. How much is consumed (food intake) depends on the sensory sensitivity of the consumer. Tea and stevia products are products that contain poly phenols which give a sense of briskness or bitterness. At the time of serving alone, stevia tea and steeping have a certain value, which will be different if brewed simultaneously. The study aims to determine the sensory acceptance threshold value, to steeping a mixture of black tea and dried stevia leaves. The study was conducted using the absolute threshold test, using a proportion of the concentration of stevia black tea between 20:1 to 4:1(w/w) and maximum weight of 2 grams. The mixture was brewed using 200 mL hot water with a temperature of 90 0 Celsius for 5 minutes. The steeped product was then tested by 80 untrained panels to find out the absolute threshold for sweet and bitter taste. From the research it was known that the absolute threshold value for sweetness of stevia-black tea was 0.39% (w/v) and bitterness of stevia -black tea was 0.42% (w/v).

Consumer preference of food pairing tea: Sensory approach

“…Sweet and salty taste is a good combination because it complements each other and creates a savory taste. According to (25), black tea is usually combined with food that has a sweet and rich/complex taste. This finding is in line with this study that sweetsavory rich and tasty coconut biscuits compared with the flavor of tea is light.…”