Abstract
Introduction
Orosensory perception strongly influences food and beverage liking and consumption. Differences between individuals in orosensation present an opportunity to conceptualize and commercialize products based on consumer “taste” responsiveness. The main objective of this study was to examine how the thermal taste phenotype associates with orosensory responsiveness to beer and cider, and more generally to examine differences in and relationships between responsiveness to alcohol-relevant stimuli and to beer/cider.
Methods
Sixty participants (31 thermal tasters (TTs) and 29 thermal non-tasters (TnTs)) rated the intensity of aqueous solutions of beer- and cider-relevant tastants: iso-α-acid (bitterness), ethanol (irritation, bitterness, sweetness), dextrose (sweetness), and citric acid (sourness) at concentrations typically found in commercial products on generalized labeled magnitude scales (gLMS). Intensity ratings (gLMS) of multiple orosensations elicited by six beer and two cider samples differing in iso-α-acid and ethanol content were also collected.
Results
TTs scored the bitterness of ethanol more intensely than did TnTs (p(t) < 0.05) and rated the bitterness, sourness, astringency, and overall taste intensity of sampled beers and ciders higher than TnT (p(F) < 0.05).
Conclusions
Thermal taste status is an important determinant in the perception of beer and cider flavor.
Implications
These results may assist product developers in designing beers and ciders targeted to specific consumer segments that differ in orosensory responsiveness, and inform broader understanding of the sources of variation in human perception of alcohol constituents and beverages.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Andrew Peller Limited for their generous donation of cider for this project.
Funding
This study was funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant to Gary Pickering.
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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Brock University Research Ethics Board (File # 15–176) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5).
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Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.
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Small-Kelly, S., Pickering, G. Variation in Orosensory Responsiveness to Alcoholic Beverages and Their Constituents—the Role of the Thermal Taste Phenotype. Chem. Percept. 13, 45–58 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-019-09266-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-019-09266-8