Investigating the temporality of binary taste interactions in blends of sweeteners and citric acid in solution
This study investigated sweet–sour taste interactions in novel sweeteners using a 3 × 2 factorial design consisting of Sweetening System (three levels: sucrose; d-allulose; and a blend of d-allulose and Monk fruit extract) and Acidity (two levels: with or without citric acid). 110 untrained Chinese subjects participated using the temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) method. Mixed-model ANOVA was conducted to investigate the effect of Sweetening System, Acidity, and their interactions on the fractional Area Under the Curve within three 20 s time intervals (attack, evolution, finish). Treatments were compared using Dunnett’s test with sucrose as control. Citric acid suppressed the sweet taste of both sucrose and d-allulose more than the blend of d-allulose and Monk fruit extract throughout attack and evolution time intervals. This finding was confirmed by a significant interaction between Sweetening System and Acidity for sweet taste. Sour taste was not affected differently by different Sweetening Systems or the difference in sweetener concentration.
Junge, J.Y., Mielby, L., Zeng, Y., Sun, Y.-X., Byrne, D., Castura, J.C., Kidmose, U. (2022). Investigating the temporality of binary taste interactions in blends of sweeteners and citric acid in solution. Journal of Sensory Studies, e12785. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12785