ORIGINAL RESEARCH Passion fruit juice with different sweeteners: sensory profile by descriptive analysis and acceptance Izabela Furtado de Oliveira Rocha* & Helena Maria Andre Bolini Faculty of Food Engineering, Food and Nutrition Department, University of Campinas, R. Monteiro Lobato 80, 6121 Campinas, Brazil Keywords Abstract Acceptance, passion fruit juice, PLS, QDA, sensory analysis, sweeteners This study evaluated the effect of different sweeteners on the sensory profile, acceptance, and drivers of preference of passion fruit juice samples sweetened Correspondence with sucrose, aspartame, sucralose, stevia, cyclamate/saccharin blend 2:1, and Izabela Furtado de Oliveira Rocha, Faculty of neotame. Sensory profiling was performed by 12 trained assessors using quanti- Food Engineering, Food and Nutrition tative descriptive analysis (QDA). Acceptance tests (appearance, aroma, flavor, Department, University of Campinas, R. texture and overall impression) were performed with 124 consumers of tropical Monteiro Lobato 80, 6121 Campinas, Brazil. Tel: +55 19 3521-4084; Fax: +55 19 3521- fruit juice. Samples with sucrose, aspartame and sucralose showed similar sen- P < 3617; E-mail: [email protected] sory profile ( 0.05), without bitter taste, bitter aftertaste, and metallic taste, and samples with sucrose and sucralose did not differ from each other for the Funding Information attribute sweet aftertaste. Passion fruit flavor affected positively and sweet after- The present study was carried out with the taste affected negatively the acceptance of the samples. Samples sweetened with support of the Brazilian Science and aspartame, sucralose, and sucrose presented higher acceptance scores for the Technology Research Council (CNPq). attributes flavor, texture, and overall impression, with no significant (P < 0.05) differences between them. Aspartame and sucralose can be good substitutes for Received: 2 October 2014; Revised: 1 December 2014; Accepted: 2 December sucrose in passion fruit juice. 2014 doi: 10.1002/fsn3.195 Introduction the availability and acceptability of the passion fruit juice in the Brazilian market and the increasing demand for Passion fruit is one of the most popular tropical fruits low-calorie and low-sugar products should be evaluated having a floral, estery aroma with an exotic tropical sul- together (De Marchi et al. 2009, Shortt 2014). fury note. The yellow passion fruit, one important com- This way, sweeteners are added to foods to replace the mercial variety, is more acidic and mainly used for juice sweetness normally provided by sucrose without contrib- preparation (Deliza et al. 2005). In addition, the produc- uting significantly to available energy and are a means for tion of concentrated passion fruit juice increased from consumers to control caloric or carbohydrate intake (Pin- approximately 4400 tons in 2005 to approximately heiro et al. 2005; Trevisam Moraes and Bolini 2010; 11,200 tons in 2010 in Brazil (IBGE 2010). O’Mullane et al. 2014). Several sweeteners are permitted Parallel to the production and consume of concen- for use in diet foods and beverages, which should have trated passion fruit juice, nowadays, sweeteners have been low caloric density on a sweetness equivalency basis, be used in foods, driven primarily by consumer demand for physiologically inert, organoleptically acceptable, commer- foods with lower carbohydrate content and energy density cially viable, besides assisting in weight-loss maintenance compared to sugar-containing variants. Sweeteners and and diabetes management, and dental cavities prevention products formulated with sucrose replacers increase con- (Malik et al. 2002). sumer choice by providing the potential to reduce calories The sweeteners must be studied in low-sugar products, and to enhance nutritional and health benefits. Thereby, because that sensory characteristics, acceptance and pref- ª 2015 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of 1 the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Sensory Profile in Passion-Fruit Juice I. F. O. Rocha & H. M. A. Bolini erence of low-calorie food products are highly dispersion The sensory profiles were generated by a panel of 12 matrix dependents. So, it is essential to study the trained judges between 18 and 35 years of age, under- substitution of sucrose by high-intensity sweeteners every graduate or postgraduate students and employees, from time a formulation or concentration are changed or a the University of Campinas, Brazil, who were experienced new product is developed (De Marchi, et al. 2009; Pinhe- in food and beverage sensory evaluation using quantita- iro et al. 2005). And the sweeteners are only successful if tive descriptive analysis (QDA, Stone et al. 1974; Meilg- they show a perfect match with the sensory profile of aard et al. 1999; Stone and Sidel 2004). The panelists sucrose (Portmann and Kilcast 1996; Cadena and Bolini were initially screened using the sequential method pro- 2012). posed by WALD (Amerine et al.1965), in which triangle Therefore, sensory evaluation is essential for its imple- tests are used to select subjects with a good ability to dis- mentation in juice and blend formulations, and for the criminate samples. A series of triangular tests was con- consumption of passion fruit, once the juice has intense ducted, in which the candidates were offered two passion acidic flavor, therefore water, sugar, or high-intensity fruit juice samples: A (containing 35 g/L sucrose), and B sweeteners should be added to provide a palatable juice (containing 50 g/L sucrose), with significant difference of (Deliza et al. 2005). 0.1%. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of The parameters used in the sequential analysis were: different sweeteners on the sensory profile, acceptance, p0 = 0.45 (maximum unacceptable ability), p1 = 0.75 and drivers of preference of passion fruit juice samples. (minimum acceptable ability), a = 0.10 (likelihood of accepting a candidate without sensory acuity) and = Materials and Methods b 0.10 (likelihood of rejecting a candidate with sensory acuity). Based on these parameters, the sensory panelists Passion fruit juice samples were prepared with unsweet- were selected according to the number of triangular tests â ened concentrated juice (Da Fruta , Araguari, Minas Ger- and the cumulative number of correct judgments. ais, Brazil). The samples were sweetened with sucrose and five different sweeteners: aspartame (Ajinomoto, S~ao Equi-sweetness determination Paulo, S~ao Paulo, Brazil), stevia extract, sucralose and neotame (Tovani-Benzaquen, S~ao Paulo, Brazil), cycla- Initially, a study to determine the ideal sweetness of mate and saccharin (Sweet Mix, Brazil). the passion fruit juice samples sweetened with sucrose was carried out. An acceptance test using a Just About Right (JAR) scale (Meilgaard et al. 2004) was performed Physicochemical analyses with 60 consumers of tropical fruit juices. The samples In this study, we evaluated color, pH, and soluble solid. were sweetened with sucrose at five concentrations: Sample color (L*,a*,b*) was determined in a Hunterlab 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5, and 15.0 g/100 g, in order to deter- Colorquest II model colorimeter (Reston, Virginia, USA). mine the ideal sweetness according to consumer’s The apparatus was calibrated with the D65 illuminant acceptance. (6900K), the reading being carried out using a After the determination of ideal sweetness, the relative 10 mm quartz cuvette, illuminant C and hue of 10°, with sweetness of the sweeteners was measured using the Mag- Regular Transmission (RTRAN) at the moment of reading nitude Estimation method (Stone and Oliver 1969), and a white reference plate (C6299 Hunter Color Stan- which makes possible a direct quantitative measurement dard). The pH of the samples was determined using an of the subjective intensity of sweetness. Orion Expandable Ion Analyzer EA 940 pH meter. The Five concentrations of each sweetener were evaluated. total titratable acidity was measured using AOAC (1997) Firstly, the passion fruit juice sample sweetened with and expressed as % citric acid. The percentage of soluble sucrose in the ideal concentration (reference sample) was solids in terms of °Brix was determined using a Carl Zeiss presented, followed by the samples containing five differ- 844976 Jena refractometer with AOAC (1997). And finally, ent concentrations of each sweetener, through random- the ratio was calculated as the ratio of total soluble solids ized complete sets. The subjects were served 30 mL of (°Brix) to titratable acidity (Sabato et al. 2009). each sample, and 90 mL of reference sample. Each sweet- ener was tested in different days. Water was provided for palate cleansing. Descriptive analysis The reference sample was taken as intensity of 100, fol- Approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics lowed by a random series of samples with intensities both Committee of the University of Campinas, and written less and greater than the reference. The subject was asked consent was given by all volunteers. to estimate the sweetness intensity of the unknown sam- 2 ª 2015 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. I. F. O. Rocha & H. M. A. Bolini Sensory Profile in Passion-Fruit Juice ples in relation to the reference. For example, if the sam- (pFreplication) as source of variation was carried