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Restrictions adopted by many countries in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic had severe consequences on the management of sensory and consumer testing that strengthened the tendency to move data collection out of the laboratory. Remote sensory testing, organized at the assessor’s home or workplace and carried out under the live online supervision of the panel leader, represents a trade-off between adequate control and the convenience of conducting testing out of the lab. The Italian Sensory Science Society developed the “Remote sensory testing” research project aimed at testing the effectiveness and validity of the sensory tests conducted remotely through a comparison with evaluations in a classical laboratory setting. Guidelines were developed to assist panel leaders in setting up and controlling the evaluation sessions in remote testing conditions. Different methods were considered: triangle and tetrad tests, Descriptive Analysis and Temporal Dominance of Sensations tests, all of which involved trained panels, and Check-All-That-Apply and hedonic tests with consumers. Remote sensory testing provided similar results to the lab testing in all the cases, with the exception of the tetrad test run at work. Findings suggest that remote sensory testing, if conducted in strict compliance with specifically developed sensory protocols, is a promising alternative to laboratory tests that can be applied with both trained assessors and consumers even beyond the global pandemic.

The combined influence of TAS2R38 genotype and PROP phenotype on oral sensations is still to be clarified. The present work investigates their influence on the intensity of basic tastes and somatosensory stimuli (capsaicin, aluminium sulphate), using a large cohort of 1117 individuals. The possible influences of gustin genotype and fungiform papillae density were also assessed. PROP phenotype was mainly associated with TAS2R38 genotype with AVI/AVI individuals reporting the lowest mean bitterness intensity (12.6 ± 1.26), and PAV/AVI individuals rating PROP lower (46.53 ± 0.93) than PAV/PAV individuals (54.14 ± 1.33). However, 25% of AVI/AVI subjects reported PROP bitterness perception higher than ‘moderate’ and small percentages of both PAV/PAV and PAV/AVI responded very little to PROP stimulation. PROP phenotype significantly affected ratings to all the tastant solutions with ST subjects giving the highest ratings and NT the lowest. An unexpected systematic effect of TAS2R38 diplotype on perceived intensity was found, with AVI/AVI individuals rating tastant solution intensity higher than PAV/AVI and PAV/PAV for all the stimuli. Recursive partitioning analysis was used to determine the influence of the explanatory variables (TAS2R38 diplotype, PROP status, age and gender) on intensity for each tastant solution. Regression trees indicated that TAS2R38 genotype is the most important variable for explaining differences in intensity of basic tastes and astringency, when compared to PROP responsiveness, gender, and age. Gender was the primary determinant of heightened perception of pungency. PROP status was the second most influential variable in all the models, with limited influence only on sweetness and umami perception. No significant variations of intensity of taste and somatosensory sensations were found in association to gustin polymorphism or fungiform papillae density. These findings call for a re-examination of the notion that the TAS2R38 gene uniquely controls PROP tasting and for future research devoted to a more in-depth genetic characterization of the AVI/AVI group and its possible associations with other polymorphisms.

Among factors influencing food preferences and choices, individual differences in taste perception play a key role in defining eating behaviour. In particular, sour and bitter responsiveness could be associated with the acceptance and the consumption of phenol-rich plant-based foods recommended for a healthy diet. The aim of this study was to investigate, in a large population sample, the associations among sour and bitter responsiveness and liking, familiarity and choice for plant-based foods characterized by these target tastes. Adults aged 18 to 60 years (n = 1198; 58% women) were tested for their sour and bitter responsiveness both in water solutions and in food models (pear juice-based beverages modified in citric acid content to induce different levels of sourness: 0.5, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 g/kg; chocolate pudding samples modified in sucrose content to induce different levels of bitterness: 38, 83, 119, 233 g/kg). Familiarity, stated liking and choice for fruit juices and vegetables varying for sour/bitter taste (high in bitter/sour taste: e.g. grapefruit juice and cauliflower; low in bitter/sour taste: e.g. zucchini and pineapple juice) were measured. Results showed a significant positive correlation between bitter and sour taste perception in water solutions and model foods, as well as a positive correlation between the perceived intensity of the two taste stimuli. Subjects characterized by high responsiveness to the two target stimuli were found to give lower liking scores to foods characterized by sour/bitter tastes and tended to choose less sour/bitter foods compared to less responsive subjects. Thus, food choice for phenol rich plant-based products could be associated with a reduced responsiveness to bitter and sour tastes and a consequent higher acceptance of food products characterized by these taste qualities.

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is associated with many health benefits. The association between the MD and food neophobia (FN) is still unexplored in adults. The present cross-sectional study was aimed to explore the relationships between adherence to the MD, FN, and sociodemographic variables in a large Italian cohort. Familiarity and frequency use (FFI) of prototypical and non-prototypical Mediterranean foods were used to calculate a new adherence index: the Italian Taste Mediterranean Index (ITMI). The FFI of all Mediterranean foods increased with age, while butter, soft drinks, red/cured meat, and sweets were more common in younger people. Accordingly, ITMI increased with age (F2,2384 = 54.11, p &lt, 0.0001). Women recorded a higher ITMI (6.70) than men (6.10). Individuals with high FN showed higher FFI for soft drinks and sweets and lower ones for most typical MD foods, than individuals with low FNs. A decrease of ITMI was recorded with the increase of the FN(F2,2384 = 22.84, 0.0001). With ageing, ITMI increased even in individuals with a high FN. The results suggest that FN may negatively affect adherence to the MD, lowering its potential health benefits, in the adult population. Monitoring of food habits, dietary education, and anxiety management, may be valuable tools to control FN and support the adherence to the MD.

The innate liking of fats may be due to one or more orosensory, post-ingestive, and metabolic signals, however, individuals differ in their preference for fat in meat. One of the variables that mainly impacts eating behaviors and thus should be carefully analyzed is sex/gender, and while sex (female/male, in a binary approximation) refers only to biological characteristics, gender (woman/man, in a binary approximation) refers to cultural attitudes and behavior. This study aimed at exploring the role of gender, age, taste responsiveness (measured as sensitivity to the bitterness of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP)), personality traits, attitudes, and liking of and familiarity with meat on the choice of fat-rich meat products in 1208 women and men aged 18&ndash, 66. Both a between- and a within-gender approach were adopted. Results showed that gender had a major impact on liking of and familiarity with meat and choice for fat-rich meat compared to age. A lower liking meat in general was found in women, independently of fat content. Women also reported a lower familiarity than men with fatty meat and cold meat and a lower choice of fat-rich meat. Genders differed in the influence of personality and attitudes about fat-rich meat choice. In both genders, the choice of meat higher in fat was associated with liking cold and fatty meat and with age and negatively with liking low-fat meat. Women were in general more interested in health than men, and this may explain the main difference in the choice of fat-rich meat between genders. However, when we look at each gender separately, general health interest was significantly correlated with a lower choice of fat-rich meat only in men. In addition, in men food neophobia was negatively correlated with choice of fat-rich meat. In women, the emotional dimension was found to play an important role, with sensitivity to disgust that was negatively associated with fat-rich meat choice and emotional eating that was positively associated with it. Thanks to the large sample and the gender-sensitive approach adopted, this study showed that different factors affect choice of fat-rich meat by gender, in addition to liking of and familiarity with fat-rich and cold meat and age. This suggests that strategies personalized by gender to reinforce or activate barriers to this type of consumption may be more effective at reducing fat intake, promoting the consumption of meat lower in fat.

The study, part of the larger Italian Taste project, was aimed at exploring the role of personality traits and taste responsiveness on liking and choice of pungent foods. Data of 1146 subjects (61% females, aged 18–60) were analysed. Subjects were characterised for demographics, taste functions (responsiveness to PROP and fungiform papillae density), and personality traits: sensitivity to reward (SR), to punishment (SP) and to disgust (SD), private body consciousness (PBC), alexithymia (TAS) and food neophobia (FN). They evaluated capsaicin and other tastants in solutions, then evaluated liking and perceived intensity (burning, acid, sweet and overall flavour) in a series of four samples of tomato juice, each spiked with capsaicin at a different concentration (0.3; 0.68; 1.01; 1.52 mg/kg). A choice index for pungent food was calculated as a sum of the choices of the spicy option using a questionnaire developed to evaluate preferences within a pair of food items (pungent vs non pungent option). Males and females differed for frequency of chili consumption and were studied separately. Age was not associated with frequency of chili consumption. Responsiveness to PROP was found to be positively correlated to perceived burn intensity. Results from ANOVA models showed that High SR, Low FN, Low DS (both males and females) and Low SP (males) liked significantly more the burning samples. Low FN and DS (in both genders), low SP (in females) perceived lower burning, and overall flavour intensities, while this was not observed in High SR. PLS regression models were used to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that affect pungent food choice. Choice was positively correlated with liking, and negatively with burning intensity, FN and DS. In addition, choice was negatively correlated with SP in females and positively with SR in males. Our results confirmed that many factors interplay in spicy food liking and choice and highlighted the role played by different personality traits in females and males. It was also reported that for same traits an effect on liking of pungency is associated with a lower perceived intensity of burning and overall flavour, while for other traits only an effect on liking was observed.

Complexity is a relevant dimension in the development of products preferences and acceptability because of its relationship with hedonic appreciation. The present study aimed to investigate the individual differences in the relationships between product complexity in alcoholic cocktails to liking and to specific sensory properties, situational appropriateness and emotional responses. Six alcoholic cocktails, all of them composed by a common bitter ingredient were selected to represent different complexity levels based on alcohol content, number of ingredients and differences in sensory properties. Products were evaluated by a consumer panel using consumer-led product specific questionnaires. At panel level, the perceived complexity was found to be aligned with the hypothesized range of complexity. When two clusters of consumers based on individual differences in complexity ratings were considered, we observed different relationships between complexity and liking as compared to panel level. Furthermore, the sensory, emotional and situational appropriateness drivers of complexity differed in the two clusters. These data showed that perceived complexity is a multi-dimensional construct in which individuals showing high familiarity with cocktails based on bitter are found to have a very high variation in complexity perception due to a difference in conceptualization of this product dimension compared to individuals with a lower familiarity.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Vegetable consumption in adolescents is reported to be low, at least in part, due to the unappealing sensory properties of vegetables, such as bitter tastes. However, not all vegetables have unappealing sensory properties, and strategies to improve vegetable consumption may benefit from wider consideration. This work aimed to understand the individual characteristics in adolescents from four European countries associated with the regular consumption and liking of vegetables with more appealing and less appealing sensory properties. Adolescents from Denmark (N = 178), the UK (N = 155), France (N = 206) and Italy (N = 197) completed self-report questionnaires to assess all variables. We found higher self-reported consumption and liking of vegetables with more appealing than less appealing sensory properties. Regular consumption of both types of vegetable was associated with healthier eating habits and a higher liking for each vegetable type. Liking for vegetables with more appealing sensory properties was higher in individuals with lower food neophobia, healthier eating habits, higher interest in consuming foods for sensory reasons and higher liking for vegetables with less appealing properties. Liking for vegetables with less appealing sensory properties was higher in individuals with lower food neophobia, higher concern for the consumption of natural foods, and higher liking for vegetables with more appealing properties. Some gender and country-specific differences were also found. Our findings suggest that strategies to increase vegetable consumption in adolescents should focus on increasing healthy eating in general, increasing vegetable liking, and may benefit from reducing food neophobia and enhancing the positive sensory and natural aspects of vegetables.

The purpose of the current study, was to apply and validate the factor structure of the Health and Taste Attitude Scales in an Italian adult sample of 1224 subjects, recruited on a national basis in order to characterise consumers’ food-related attitudes with weak and strong connotations of health and taste. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the factor structure of the three sub-scales of Health (General health interest, Light product interest, Natural product interest) and three sub-scales of Taste (Craving for sweet foods, Using foods as a reward, Pleasure). Results showed that the internal structure was similar to the theoretical proposal, with two exceptions for the Taste scale. The Pleasure sub-scale presented strong problematic loadings and consequently was removed from the model. The Craving for sweet foods sub-scale was split into two new underlying constructs describing attitudes towards craving for sweet food based on their own experience and attitudes towards other-people’s craving. The three Health sub-scales were used as a basis for the derivation of consumers clusters. Three groups of subjects with different interest in food-related health (Low, Medium, and High Interest) were identified. This segmentation confirmed an association between positive attitudes towards health and liking and familiarity with selected food groups. People more convenience-oriented and less interested in product information and food quality had higher probability to have a lower interest in food-related health. Subjects with higher positive attitudes towards using foods as a reward had a higher probability to belong to the cluster with lower interest in food-related health.

The consumption of phenol-rich foods is limited by their prominent bitterness and astringency. This issue has been addressed by adding sweet tastes, which suppress bitterness, but this is not a complete solution since individuals also differ in their preference for sweetness. In this study, we aimed at identifying groups of consumers differing in sweetness optima and sensory-liking patterns. To this end, increasing concentrations of sucrose were added to a chocolate pudding base. This allowed us to (1) investigate if individual differences in sensory responses are associated with different sweet liking optima in a product context, (2) define the psychological and oro-sensory profile of sweet liker phenotypes derived using a product context, and (3) assess if individuals differing in sweet liking optima differ also in consumption and liking of phenol-rich foods and beverages as a function of their sensory properties (e.g., sweeter vs. more bitter and astringent products). Individuals (1208, 58.4% women, 18–69 years) were characterised for demographics, responsiveness to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), personality traits and attitudes toward foods. Three clusters were identified based on correlations between sensory responses (sweetness, bitterness and astringency) and liking of the samples: liking was positively related to sweetness and negatively to bitterness and astringency in High and Moderate Sweet Likers, and the opposite in Inverted U-Shaped. Differences between clusters were found in age, gender and personality. Furthermore, the Inverted-U Shaped cluster was found to have overall healthier food behaviours and preferences, with higher liking and consumption of phenol-rich vegetables and beverages without added sugar. These findings point out the importance of identifying the individual sensory-liking patterns in order to develop more effective strategies to promote the acceptability of healthy phenol-rich foods.

Healthy and sustainable diets are necessary for global development goals, but people struggle to modify their eating behaviours which are often habitual and resistant to change. However, disruption can provide the impetus for change, and in the present research we view the Covid-19 pandemic as a potential catalytic disruption with the potential to induce positive behaviour change. Data were obtained from ~900 USA adults, of which 44% self-reported to have made positive dietary change/s. Those who did so tended to be younger rather than older and with higher educational attainment. They also were less food neophobic than people who did not make positive change/s and placed greater importance on health as a motive of daily decisions about what to eat and drink. The contribution of psychographic variables in differentiating between groups of people who did / did not make positive changes once again show their importance in uncovering and explaining the complex factors that motivate food-related consumer behaviour. It seems this holds also when daily lives are disrupted by unforeseen events.

Understanding why many individuals dislike vegetables is relevant to develop effective strategies to change food behaviors promoting healthier choices. The influences of sensory properties in the development of food preferences are well known. Attention as well may play a role in this process. Indeed, attention enhances information processing of emotionally salient objects or events by selecting them from the environmental context in which they are embedded. This study was aimed at investigating the relationship between acceptability of vegetables, food neophobia and taste responsiveness (measured as responsiveness to 6-n- propylthiouracil-PROP) and the attentive responses to vegetables that differ in sensory properties. 120 adults (20–24 years old, 74.2% women) were recruited and characterized for Food Neophobia and PROP responsiveness. To assess the interferences between emotional and attentional processes a food version of the Emotional Stroop Task was used. Attentional bias was measured through reaction times (RTs) to word stimuli, which included 16 vegetables characterized by generally appealing (e.g. ‘sweetness’, ‘mildness’) or unappealing (e.g. ‘bitterness’, ‘astringency’) sensory properties, and 16 emotionally neutral objects presented as control. A clear association between vegetable liking scores and sensory properties was found in this study, confirming the categorization of appealing and unappealing vegetables. Furthermore, results showed significantly higher RTs for vegetables than for neutral objects, demonstrating that vegetables were more emotionally salient than objects. Furthermore, the interference scores, computed as the differences between average RTs to unappealing/appealing vegetable words and average RTs to neutral words, for vegetables with unappealing sensory properties were higher than those for vegetables characterized by appealing sensory properties, indicating a greater attentional bias for unappealing vegetables. A strong inverse correlation between liking scores and RTs (r = -0.83) was found. No effect of food neophobia and PROP status was found on interferences scores, while PROP supertasters showed higher RTs for vegetables in general. The study showed that attention is particularly grabbed by vegetables with unappealing sensory properties, thus indicating that attention play a role in vegetable acceptability.

Innovation can be driven by optimization and improvement through existing product categories and actual market conditions (e.g., sustaining or incremental innovation). However, it can also be driven by a willingness to change the market, namely, the so-called disruptive innovation. While many approaches for the consumer evaluation of incremental and low-end disruptive innovations are available, tools for assessing the product performance and users’ perception and adoption of new-market disruptive innovations are still lacking. The LUD (Learning-Use-Deprivation) framework is a consumer home use test protocol consisting of three stages of time-based product evaluation, used to estimate users’ adoption of a new-market disruptive innovation. The latter is characterized by no clear market reference to compare with (no benchmark) and difficulty in the selection of a consumer target group (as non-consumers are generally targeted). Hence, traditional approaches to evaluation are inadequate and sometimes inappropriate. The LUD framework aims to overcome the limitations of the actual methods in assessing user perception, including sensory, functional, and affective (liking and emotions) aspects, by proposing a repeated exposure (learning and use stages) test, which also includes the evaluation of the product one week after the end of the exposure period (deprivation stage). The present paper describes the LUD approach and its application to a specific cosmetic industry case, a new stick shampoo, to test the effectiveness of the selected metrics (liking, emotions, learning measures, and sensory and functional properties) and to gauge the product’s performance and validate its launch in the market. The approach has been found to be effective in testing a potential disruptive innovation, and it could be extended to other product categories (including food), providing information that can be used to validate the product or further optimize it. This information can also be used for communication and marketing purposes.

A global dietary transition, associated with negative effects on health and environment and characterized by an increase of animal-based diets to the detriment of plant-based diets, has occurred in the last few decades. Many factors (biological, physiological, psychological and socio-cultural), are known to play a role in affecting food choices and should be considered in order to promote more healthier plant based-diets. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the associations among psychological and personality traits, attitudes, beliefs and taste responsiveness in affecting implicitly measured attitudes toward plant-based and animal based-dishes. These attitudes were measured through three independent Implicit Association Tests (IATs), using images of culinary preparations of plant-based, meat-based and dairy-based dishes and positive/negative emotions. 125 subjects (39 omnivores, 55 flexitarians and 31 vegetarians) participated in each IAT. Questionnaires measuring psychological and personality traits, attitudes toward foods and beliefs about food animals were employed. Moreover, taste responsiveness was measured through the bitter intensity assessment of PROP. A Partial Least Square model was then adopted to study the individual variability in the implicit attitudes toward the plant-based and animal-based dishes in relation to psychological and personality traits, general food attitudes, beliefs on food animals and taste responsiveness measures. Overall the implicit measures were found to be in line with declared eating habits, with Vegetarians and Flexitarians more inclined to implicitly associate positive emotions to meat-free dishes than Omnivores, and with Vegetarians showing a stronger association than Flexitarians. The results showed that positive attitudes toward plant-based dishes were positively related to the empathic sensitivity toward humans and animals, as well as to attitudes toward healthy and natural products, highlighting an important role of food consciousness in determining the eating habits. On the contrary, food involvement and attitude towards taste did not differ among the considered segments. Responsiveness to PROP and sensitivity to pathogen disgust were found to be lower in Vegetarians compared to Omnivores. The transition from plant-based diet to animal-based diet should therefore embrace multiple aspects, considering taste responsiveness, psychological traits and attitudes towards food.

The orange industry produces considerable amounts of by-products, traditionally used for animal feed or fuel production. Most of these by-products could be used as functional ingredients. To assess the potential food application of orange epicarp, different percentages of micro-encapsulated orange extract were added to fresh fish burgers. Then, an in vitro digestion was also carried out, before and after micro-encapsulation, to measure the bio-accessibility of the active compounds.; Results: A significant increase of bio-accessibility of bioactive compounds has been observed in the orange epicarp extract after micro-encapsulation by spray-drying. From the sensory point of view, the fish sample enriched with 50 g kg-1 micro-encapsulated extract was the most comparable to the control burger, even if it showed a higher phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid bio-accessibility.; Conclusion: Orange epicarp may be used as a food additive to enhance the health content of food products. The micro-encapsulation is a valid technique to protect the bioactive compounds and increase their bio-accessibility. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Time Intensity (both continuous-TI and discontinuous-DTI) and Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) represent the main methodologies for describing the temporal evolution of the different sensations developing during food consumption. Sensory description from these methods relies on different aspects of perception, time-intensity covers the time course of selected sensation intensity while TDS describes the profile in terms of dominant sensations and their temporal sequence. Data collection on both these aspects would provide a more comprehensive description of the dynamic sensory profile. In this work, a new approach combining TDS and DTI methodologies is presented with the aim to: 1) describe the time course of dominant sensations and their relevant intensities in alcoholic beverages; 2) propose new graphical tools to facilitate the observation of changes in the intensities of dominant sensations over time within and between products. The TDS profile of alcoholic cocktails was described by trained assessors. TDS curves of each product were visually inspected, the significantly dominant attributes were selected considering three evaluation intervals: attack 0–30 s; evolution 31–60 s; finishing 61–90 s. Meaningful points for intensity evaluation were identified considering the times at which the dominant attributes were close to their maximum DR value in each time interval. The same panel was further trained to perform the DTI task consisting in the evaluation of the intensity of the dominant attributes at the selected time points. The proposed approach described the product dynamic profiles in terms of the time course of dominant attributes intensities. The dynamic spider plot was proposed as a new graphic representation to illustrate and compare the evolution of the intensity of dominant attributes along attack, evolution, and finishing within and across products.

Coffee is a universally popular product, with very distinct sensory characteristics and a stimulant effect due to the caffeine content. While many people consume more than one coffee per day, it is common to have a favourite coffee during the day, associated with a specific context. Preferring a context to another can provide valuable information about the most favoured aspects of the coffee experience, that may reflect individual physiological differences that affect food/beverages perception. Open-ended questions can be useful to collect this information because they allow subjects to freely describe their experiences. This study aims at: 1) exploring consumers' preferred coffee consumption contexts and their relationship with individual physiological characteristics; 2) developing an approach to facilitate and make more efficient open-ended question analysis, using together semiotic and statistical tools. 134 regular coffee consumers were characterized by the number of fungiform papillae (FP), the PROP taster status and the rate of caffeine metabolism (CMI) and were asked to describe the moment of the day in which they prefer to have coffee. The results showed that the preferred context for having coffee differed according to the physiological variables of CMI, FP and, to a less extent, PROP status. Subjects with lower CMI focussed more on the social features of the experience, while higher CMI found more rewarding the sensory properties of coffee. Individuals with lower FP number found more rewarding the product sensory characteristics than individuals with higher FP number, who were more focussed on the stimulating effect of coffee. Both PROP non tasters and supertasters tended to not prefer a context where the focus was on sensory properties (e.g. tasting) and rather preferred contexts where the focus was on the social aspects related to the coffee consumption. The study showed that open-ended questions can be useful to investigate consumer perception. In addition, combined use of semiotic and statistical tools can give valuable results and can help to optimise the text analysis procedure.

The association of fungiform papillae (FP) density with responsiveness to oral sensations is controversial. It has been speculated that FP size is a relevant feature for oral responsiveness, thus partially accounting for inconsistencies between FP density and oral responsiveness. This study aims to evaluate factors affecting the number of FP with different diameter sizes (age, gender, PROP status) and to explore the relevant associations with responsiveness to oral sensations in water solutions and food products. Three-hundred-fifty subjects participating in the Italian Taste project were involved, balanced for gender (53% females) and age class (18-30, 35%; 31-45, 35%; 46-60, 30%). The automated image analysis of tongue pictures was used to detect FP and count their frequencies, distinguishing 11 diameter size classes (range from 0.3 to 1.05 mm). Frequencies were converted into FP densities (FP/cm 2 ) for each size. Taste responsiveness in water solutions (sour, bitter, salty, umami, sweet, astringent, pungent) and in three food products with varied intensity of target sensations (pear juice for sourness; bean puree for saltiness; tomato juice for pungency) was measured. Density of FP from all size classes decreased with age. Females showed higher FP density in size of 0.78-0.84 mm diameter, and males in the size of 0.44-0.49 mm. PROP status did not significantly affect the density of FP in any size class. Principal Component Analysis on individual FP density values of the 11 classes allowed identifying four subject groups with different FP patterns: high density and large diameter (HighLarge), high density and small diameter (HighSmall), low density and large diameter (LowLarge), low density and small diameter (LowSmall). FP pattern groups significantly affected oral responsiveness, the highest responsiveness was associated to the uniform pattern characterized by low density and small size FP.

Plant phenolics are powerful antioxidants and free radical scavengers that can contribute to the healthy functional properties of plant-based food and beverages. Thus, dietary behaviours rich in plant-based food and beverages are encouraged. However, it is well-known that the bitter taste and other low-appealing sensory properties that characterize vegetables and some other plant-based foods act as an innate barrier for their acceptance. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of psychological traits and PROP status (the responsiveness to bitter taste of 6-n- propylthiouracil) on the choice of and familiarity with phenol-rich vegetables and beverages varying in recalled level of bitterness and astringency. Study 1 aimed at assessing the variations of the sensory properties of vegetable and coffee/tea items with two check-all-that-apply (CATA) questionnaires (n = 201 and n = 188 individuals, respectively). Study 2 aimed at investigating how sensitivity to punishment, to reward, and to disgust, food neophobia, private body consciousness, alexithymia, and PROP responsiveness affect choice and familiarity with phenol-rich foods (n = 1200 individuals). A Choice Index was calculated for vegetables (CV) and coffee/tea (CC) as a mean of the choices of the more bitter/astringent option of the pairs and four Familiarity Indices were computed for vegetables (FV) and coffee/tea (FC), higher (+) or lower (-) in bitterness and astringency. Subjects higher in food neophobia, sensitivity to punishment or sensitivity to disgust reported significantly lower choice indices than individuals lower in these traits, meaning that they systematically opted for the least bitter/astringent option within the pairs. Familiarity with vegetables was lower in individuals high in sensitivity to punishment, in food neophobia and in alexithymia, irrespective of their sensory properties. The Familiarity Index with coffee/tea characterized by higher bitterness and astringency was lower in individuals high in food neophobia, sensitivity to disgust, and alexithymia. No significant effect of PROP was found on any indices. The proposed approach based on product grouping according to differences in bitterness and astringency allowed the investigation of the role of individual differences in chemosensory perception and of psychological traits as modulators of phenol-rich foods preference and consumption.

Independent sensory modalities are related and showed covariations in prior literature. However, little is known on the relationship between oral sensations and nasal chemesthesis. This large-scale study aims (I.) to test the hypothesis that response to oral stimuli is related to responsiveness to odours with chemesthetic activity; and (II.) to explore the implications of these relationships on liking. Oral and olfactory responsiveness of 2205 Italians (18–65 years, men = 41%) were evaluated. Intensities of tastes, astringency and pungency were collected in water solutions and in four foods modulated for target sensations. Responses to bitterness of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) was measured. Odour intensity and irritation were assessed for three pure odorants (L-Menthol, trans-anethole, (+)-α-Terpineol) stimulating nasal chemesthesis (respectively: TRPM8, TRPA1, TRPA1). Liking for odours and foods was measured. Specific intensity indices were developed for each sensation. Three clusters were identified based on taste intensity responses (Cl1, Cl2, Cl3). Cl1 (38%) was the most responsive to tastes, astringency, pungency, PROP and odours’ intensity and irritation. This hyper-responsive cluster showed the highest hedonic variation (the span of liking ratings for stimuli with varied tastant concentrations). Cl2 (24%) was intermediate for oral responsiveness (apart for sourness) and Cl3 (38%) was the least responsive. Cl2 and Cl3 did not differ in odours’ responsiveness (neither for perceived intensity nor for irritation). All sensory modalities were correlated but cross-correlations were higher when stimulating the same peripherical areas (oral vs oral more correlated than oral vs nasal). Results corroborate the idea of an overall high ‘sensory responsiveness’ covering different sensory modalities. Practical implications of the study are that less responsive subjects might require greater modifications in products formulations to modify their liking.

Emojis were suggested for children to be used to measure food-elicited emotions. The present study was aimed to explore the appropriateness of emojis to describe pre-adolescents’ emotions elicited by foods recalled in relation to different evoked eating contexts and to explore related age- and gender differences. Fifty-five boys and forty-one girls aged 9–13 participated to the study. First, subjects were asked to recall, by means of an open-ended question, the foods they had in specific eating contexts: “Most liked food” and “Most disliked food”, “Breakfast”, “Dinner”, “Snack”, “Birthday” and “Novel food”. Then, they were asked to select the emojis appropriate to describe their feelings for the context-related foods by selecting from a list of 92 facial emojis (CATA method). Emojis selected by more than 20% of children in at least one eating context qualified as food-related. In total, 46 emojis resulted as appropriate to describe emotions in different eating contexts. Pre-adolescents used mainly positive emojis, except for the context “Most disliked food”, where mainly negative emojis were used. Most food-related emojis resulted from “Most liked food” and “Most disliked food”, but the context “Birthday” also added some context-specific emojis. The number of selected emojis varied across evoked eating contexts eliciting different foods. Age and gender significantly affected emoji selection across and within foods elicited by varied eating contexts, with girls and 9–11-year-old subjects selecting some emojis more frequently across all contexts, but also within contexts. The approach used in the present study has the potential to be used for the development of a food-related emotion measurement tool for pre-adolescents. Future research aimed at interpreting the meaning of facial emojis is needed and should consider age- and gender differences.

Alcoholic cocktails are consumed in very different situations and then consumers may differ in their favorite context to drink a cocktail. Diversity in the preferred context of cocktail consumption may reflect individual differences in taste responsiveness and personality traits as well as cocktail liking. This study aims at: 1) extending the efficacy of a coupled semiotic and statistical methodology for text analysis in uncovering aspects of preferred contexts of cocktail consumption; 2) testing if specific preferred contexts of cocktail consumption are related to individual differences; 3) investigating the relationships between preferred context to have cocktails and patterns of liking for cocktails. 159 cocktails consumers were characterized by personality traits, cocktail involvement, alcoholic beverages intake and PROP taster status and were asked to describe their preferred context to consume an alcoholic cocktail. Consumers were then asked to taste in blind conditions and rate their liking of six alcoholic aperitif cocktails. Three thematic clusters were identified (relax, sociability, aperitif). The relax lovers preferred a comforting context to have a cocktail; these consumers expressed a lower liking for the six evaluated samples than aperitif lovers but resulted more involved with cocktails as compared to the cluster sociability. This latter group of consumers focused on social aspects and novelty; they reported a higher intake of spirits than the cluster aperitif and showed higher scores in sensation seeking and disinhibition than the other clusters. The cluster aperitif described their favorite context as a “before dinner” situation; they were more involved with cocktails than the sociability cluster. Finally, the three clusters did not differ in PROP taster status distribution. The approach has proven to be useful to collect information and to segment consumers on the preferred aspects of cocktail experience. The study showed that consumer clusters with different preferred context for cocktail consumption differ in liking for the cocktails, personality traits, attitudes and alcohol intake.

This study aimed to further the development and application of the Global profile approach, by (1) extending it to another product category, alcoholic cocktails; (2) investigating the relationship between sensory-emotions-context appropriateness in consumers differing for liking patterns; and (3) integrating the approach beyond product differentiation to consumer differentiation, thus improving and gaining a further insight into differences among consumers (consumer characterization). This was done taking into account consumer differences in oral responsiveness, personality traits, familiarity, explicit responses to products and implicit attitudes towards brand. Six alcoholic bitter-based cocktail samples were rated for liking, sensory properties, emotions and context appropriateness. Three clusters with different liking patterns for alcoholic cocktails were identified: ‘Fruit-bitter lovers’, ‘New-bitter lovers’ and ‘Classic-bitter lovers. Very small differences in sensory evaluation were found between the three clusters, while instead large differences were found for emotions and, to a lesser extent, for context appropriateness. Furthermore, the relationships among emotions, contexts and sensory properties were different in the three clusters. Clusters differed partly by gender, personality traits and alcohol consumption. A higher percentage of females was found in ‘Fruit-bitter lovers’; these consumers were also characterized by a higher Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) scores and a lower level of alcohol consumption. ‘New-bitter lovers’ liked cocktails with very different sensory characteristics who were associated with specific contexts of consumption. These consumers were less involved with cocktails than the other clusters. ‘Classic-bitter lovers’ cluster liked a broader variety of cocktails and also showed a more implicit positive attitude towards the bitter ingredient brand and a higher familiarity for cocktails in general. The information collected through this multidimensional approach will allow a better understanding of the differences in liking patterns among different groups of cocktail consumers and may be used to improve strategies for product innovation and consumer targeting.

The important role of emotions in consumers’ food-related decisions motivate ongoing research in this domain, and in the present research attention was directed to an area that remains under-investigated: identifying sensory drivers of product-elicited emotions. Assuming that product-elicited emotions depend on the value individuals attach to the sensory characteristics of products, liking was expected to moderate the sensory drivers of emotions. This motivated an exploration of differences in the emotional associations of consumer groups with different preference patterns, as well as the sensory drivers of product-elicited emotions. Across four studies (123-192 consumers per study), using different product categories, emotion questionnaire variants and consumer populations, support for three hypotheses was established: i) consumers with different preference patterns did not largely differ in how they described the sensory characteristics of products, but they differed in their emotional associations, and differences between segments with different liking patterns were larger for emotional product associations than for sensory product perceptions (H1), ii) differences in the emotional associations depended on the size of the difference in liking between the two groups, although some differences in the emotional associations of samples with similar liking scores were also established (H2), and iii) many of the sensory drivers of emotions differed between consumer segments with different preference patterns (H3). The latter has not previously been demonstrated in this level of detail and supports the growing recognition of segmentation analysis in product-focused consumer research.

The aim of the present study is to explore the association between food neophobia and chemosensory responsiveness and to determine whether this association translates into different food liking and preference patterns. Data were collected on 1225 respondents (61% females, age 20–60 years) as part of the Italian Taste project. Respondents completed the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) as well as a food preference and familiarity questionnaire for a number of foods and beverages categorized as mild or strong tasting. Moreover, they evaluated attribute intensity and liking of an actual food (dark chocolate pudding) varying in the level of sweetness, bitterness and astringency. Taste function was evaluated by measuring fungiform papillae density (FPD), responsiveness to PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) and to water solutions representing various oro-sensory qualities. High, medium and low neophobic subjects did not differ for FPD and chemosensory responsiveness. Reported liking was significantly lower for high neophobics than low neophobics mainly for those vegetables and beverages characterized by high levels of warning stimuli (i.e. bitterness, sourness, astringency and alcohol), whereas almost no differences were found for the bland versions of food items. High and medium neophobics rated astringency and, to a lesser extent, bitterness of the dark chocolate pudding, as more intense than low neophobics and liked the most bitter and astringent variants significantly less than low neophobics. Differences in liking, however, do not seem to be mediated by high food neophobics’ superior taste functioning but rather by higher levels of arousal when eating food and/or drinking beverages that are perceived as unpleasant and potentially dangerous. Finally, the effect of food neophobia was evident not only for unusual items in the Italian food context, but even for items that might be considered highly familiar.

Investigating the emotions elicited by a product considering only its sensory characteristics or both its sensory characteristics and packaging/branding can give a deeper insight into product perception and can help companies in the design and optimisation of products that meet consumer expectations. The aim of this study was to (i) measure how liking changes across blind, package (expected) and informed conditions, and (ii) measure how emotions change across blind and informed conditions, in products representing the widest range of sensory variability and brand identity in the market category of hazelnut and cocoa spreads. In the first session participants ( n = 120) tasted each product in a blind condition, expressed their liking and rated emotions using the EmoSemio questionnaire specifically developed for this product category (Spinelli, Masi, Dinnella, Zoboli, & Monteleone, 2014). Then consumers were asked to rate their expected liking for the products, presented in the original packaging by means of photos (pack/expected condition). After one week, consumers tasted each product presented with its own packaging (informed condition), expressed their liking and rated emotions. Emotions were very discriminating in both conditions: in the informed condition all the emotions significantly varied across samples, while in the blind condition 21 out of 23 (91.3%) varied. Results showed a correlation between liking (blind, expected and informed) and emotions. Complete assimilation of liking toward expectations was associated to an overall improvement of the emotional performance of the product: positive emotions increased in the case of complete assimilation towards the expectations, while negative emotions decreased. When there was a mismatch between expected liking evoked by packaging and blind liking (disconfirmation) but an assimilation effect was not found, some positive emotions significantly decreased in the informed condition compared to the blind one. This study suggests the importance of collecting emotion responses in both blind and informed conditions to detect changes in the emotional profile of products due to the brand/packaging providing information useful for product optimisation.

Food choice is influenced by many interacting factors in humans. Its multidimensional and complex nature is well recognized, particularly within the sensory and consumer food science field. However, the vast majority of the studies aimed at understanding determinants of food choices, preferences, and eating behaviours are affected by important limitations: the limited number of factors that are considered at once and the sample size. Furthermore, sensory and hedonic responses to actual food stimuli are often not included in such studies. The Italian Taste project is a large-scale study (three thousand respondents in three years) launched by the Italian Sensory Science Society aimed at addressing these limitations by exploring the associations among a variety of measures – biological, genetic, physiological, psychological and personality-related, socio-cultural – describing the dimensions of food liking, preference, behaviour and choice, and their relevance in determining individual differences within a given food culture framework. In addition, the study includes also the collection of sensory and hedonic responses to actual food stimuli commonly consumed in Italy and prepared to elicit a variation in the strength (from weak to strong) of bitterness, sweetness, saltiness, sourness, pungency, umami and astringency. The aims of the present paper are twofold. Firstly, the paper is aimed to illustrate the variables selected to explore the different dimensions of food choice and to report the experimental procedure adopted for data collection. Secondly, the paper is aimed at showing the potential of the Italian Taste dataset on the basis of the data collected in the first year of the project. For the purpose, we selected a small number of variables known to influence food choices from data collected in the first year of the project on 1225 individuals.

The objective of this study was to define an approach to describe the emotional profile specific to a product category able to solve some limitations of the current approaches. A multistep approach was applied to measure emotions related to consumer liking for a specific food product category, chocolate and hazelnut spreads, chosen as the first case of application. Three interrelated experiments were conducted: (1) selection of products that spanned the most relevant sensory variation within the considered product category; (2) development of a product specific questionnaire (EmoSemio) based on interviews conducted with a modified version of the Repertory Grid Method and analysed with a semiotic approach; and (3) collection of liking and emotional consumer responses with EmoSemio and with EsSense Profile™ questionnaires. Both questionnaires used to measure emotional responses produced information that is not captured by only measuring acceptability. However results from ANOVA model applied on emotion ratings highlighted important differences between the two questionnaires. The product specific questionnaire was found to discriminate across the products more effectively, with a higher percentage of discriminating emotions and a higher number of sample groups discriminated by each emotions (LSD99% post hoc test). Different factors contributed to these results: (a) the product-specific and language/culture-specific nature of the questionnaire; (b) a different and clearer way to express emotions in EmoSemio: not using single adjectives but full sentences helps to reduce ambiguity; and (c) a reduced length – 23 instead of 39 items. For these reasons, EmoSemio approach seems to be appropriate when the emotional profile of a specific product category is of interest, allowing a fine-grained analysis with relatively modest costs as to the benefits (25 interviews). Further studies are needed to experiment EmoSemio on other product categories, testing its reliability and suitability with different food and also non-food products.

BACKGROUND Mixtures of different cultivars provide semolina with proper processing properties but not always good nutritional properties. In this study, the effects of mono-varietal cultivars of durum wheat on pasta quality were evaluated in order to find a good balance between nutritional and sensory properties of the final product. RESULTS Durum wheat spaghetti was manufactured using semolina from six mono-varietal cultivars. A commercially available semolina mixture was also used to produce a control pasta sample. Instrumental (i.e. rheological and texture analysis), sensory (i.e. elasticity, firmness, adhesiveness) and nutritional (i.e. protein, ash and fibre content, glycaemic index) analyses were carried out. Results highlighted differences between selected cultivars. In particular, spaghetti obtained with Anco Marzio and Cappelli semolina (modern and old cultivars, respectively) showed the highest protein content and the lowest cooking loss, compared with the other samples. CONCLUSION Spaghetti made with Cappelli semolina showed the lowest adhesiveness and the highest hardness; it recorded the best overall quality and presented the lowest glycaemic response. Hence, durum wheat pasta with a good balance between nutritional and cooking quality could be obtained from semolina based on mono-varietal cultivars. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Background: Consumption of a high quantity and wide variety of vegetables is currently recommended for health. Dietary variety can be low, however, particularly for older adults. This study investigated the affective factors associated with the quantity and variety of vegetables consumed by older adults in France, Italy and the UK. Methods: Adults aged 65 years plus completed questionnaires on self-reported vegetable intake (quantity and variety), liking for vegetables, attitudes towards intake, and demographic variables. Results: In 497 older adults (France, n = 187, Italy, n = 152, UK, n = 158), higher quantities of vegetables consumed were associated with a higher age, affluence score and liking for vegetables, and a lower importance in consumption of familiarity (smallest β = 0.11, p = 0.03). Greater variety was associated with a higher liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = −0.11, p < 0.01). Higher quantity and variety combined (quantity × variety) was associated with a higher age, liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = 0.14, p = 0.02). Country-specific effects were also found (smallest β = 0.20, p < 0.01). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate a role for liking and a lower concern for eating familiar foods in vegetable consumption, and a particular role for concern for health benefits in the consumption of a greater variety of vegetables.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between taste responsiveness and food liking in preadolescents. Model food samples of grapefruit juice (GF) and vegetable broth (VB) modified with four additions of sucrose and sodium chloride, respectively, were employed. Intensity perception for sweetness, sourness, and bitterness were measured in GF while saltiness and umami were measured in VB. The children (N = 148) also completed food choice, familiarity, stated liking and neophobia questionnaires. The test was conducted at school, with instructions provided remotely via video call. Four segments were defined differing in basic taste responsiveness. Segments and sucrose concentrations significantly affected liking for GF, while no significant effect of segments and sodium chloride concentrations occurred on liking for VB. An increasing sucrose concentration was positively associated with liking for GF only in the segment with low responsiveness to bitter and sour tastes. No significant differences across segments were found for food choice, familiarity, stated liking, and neophobia. Conclusively, relationships between taste responsiveness and liking are product and basic taste-dependent in addition to being subject-dependent. Strategies to improve acceptance by using sucrose as a suppressor for warning sensations of bitterness and sourness can be more or less effective depending on individual responsiveness to the basic tastes.