Consumer acceptability of blueberry confections formulated with blueberry extract and lyophilized whole blueberry powder
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Date
2018-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Functional food products (FFP) have been shown to enhance overall health and aid in disease prevention. FF'’s, aside from delivering the intended health benefit, need to be sensory acceptable so that they are regularly consumed. Confections make excellent FFPs and delivery vehicles for bioactives due to their high consumer compliance, and their ability to deliver a consistent composition of phytochemicals even after processing and storage. Blueberries contain polyphenols, primarily anthocyanins, which have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and other health benefits. However, most of the pre-clinical evidence regarding the health benefits of blueberries have been seen using a phytochemical-rich blueberry extract, not the whole fruit. When assessing possible blueberry sources in a functional confection, whole lyophilized blueberry powder was selected, delivering equivalent phytochemical profiles without the chemical off-flavors attributed to the extract. It was hypothesized that confections made with lyophilized whole blueberry powder would be preferred to the confections made with blueberry extract. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a sensory analysis of the two confections, including a paired preference test and an acceptability test using a 9-point hedonic scale rating overall liking, aroma, fruit flavor, bitterness, graininess, texture, and sweetness (n=75), with a significance level of α=0.05. Results of the preference test showed no significant preference among the two blueberry confections, with 43 individuals preferring the whole blueberry powder confection and 32 individuals preferring the blueberry extract confection. No significant differences were seen among hedonic scores except in graininess (p= 0.015) and average overall liking scores of both confections fell in the "like slightly" category (powder= 6.33, extract= 6.21). In conclusion, both the extract and powder confections were sensory acceptable for use in future clinical trials, but more work needs to be done comparing shelf stability and phytochemical uptake in humans.
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Denman Undergraduate Research Forum Poster Presentation- 1st Place
CFAES Undergraduate Research Forum Poster Presentation- 2nd Place
CFAES Undergraduate Research Forum Poster Presentation- 2nd Place
Keywords
functional foods, sensory analysis, blueberry, anthocyanins, confection