Relationship Between Sweetener Concentration and Quantitative Sweetness Perception

Abstract

Added sugars in processed foods are the main source of dietary sugar. Sugar reduction strategies can improve the health status of thepopulation. Sugar reduction can cause changes in sensory characteristics, particularly the sweet taste. Understanding the perceptionof sweetness in sugar-reducedproducts is essential for designing programs that encourage the industry to implement this reductionin different food categories. This study presents an approach based on Stevens´ law model, allowing the relationship betweensweetener concentration and quantitative sweetness perception to be established. The model was tested using sweetness perceptiondata obtained from the magnitude estimation methodology for dairy foods sweetened with sucrose and non-carbonatedbeveragessweetened with high fructose corn syrup. The sweetness of both foods increased with the addition of the sweetener. Stevens´ lawmodel fitted the sweetness perception data well, yielding a sweetness intensity curve within the linear relationship between thesefunctions. It was possible to determine how much the perception of sweetness is affected when a sweetener is reduced in these foods.