Explaining creaminess from standard and novel instrumental tests

R. A. de Wijk (1,2), A.M. Janssen (1,2), G.B. Dijksterhuis (1,2),  & J.F. Prinz (1,3)

1 WCFS, Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences, the Netherlands;

2 WUR, Agrotechnology and Food Innovations, the Netherlands,

3 TNO-V, the Netherlands

 rene.dewijkwur.nl

A set of model vanilla custard desserts is used to establish inter-relations between sensory mouthfeel and afterfeel attributes, using highly trained panelists and multivariate statistical techniques. The custards were presented to a QDA sensory panel that rated each custard on a set of 35 sensory attributes including 13 mouthfeel textural attributes and 5 afterfeel textural attributes. Instrumental measures on the custards included in-vitro rheometrical measurements, and newly developed oral physiological measurements reflecting bulk properties and/or surface properties of the oral food bolus. Sensory attributes, ingredients, and instrumental measures were related using Partial Least Square analyses. Significant regression coefficients for each combination of attribute and instrumental measure indicated systematic effects of ingredients on attributes. A relation between bulk and surface properties is illustrated in the results.

The results provide insight into mechanisms underlying individual sensory attributes. In addition, it provides insight in the structure of the "sensory space" underlying all mouth and afterfeel attributes for specific product groups. Finally, the instrumental-sensory-ingredient relationships facilitate the understanding of what instrumental tests actually measure.

Based on the results we suggest a three dimensional model for soft-solid foods of the type analysed in these studies. These three dimensions run from

	creamy to rough
	melting to thick
	heterogeneous to airy

The class of soft solids from the previous sections could be represented in the 3D space spanned by these dimensions as illustrated in the below picture.

Key words: creaminess, mouthfeel, afterfeel, sensory-instrumental analyses.