PSYCHOPHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW SWEETENERS OF COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE EC FOOD-INDUSTRY

Quantitative psychophysical information on the perceptual characterist ics of sucrose (as reference), sodium cyclamate, aspartame, neohesperi din dihydrochalcone (NHDHC) and maltitol were established through the determination and the modelling of their concentration-response (C-R) functions according to linear, Beidler or Hill equations, the recordin g of the time-intensity (T-I) curves with the determination of the T-I parameters for each sweetener, and the establishment of the sensory p rofile of the sweetener solutions by the QDA technique. Bulk and inten se sweeteners present dissimilar C-R functions. The C-R function obser ved for maltitol is linear while aspartame, cyclamate and NHDHC exhibi t a saturation plateau around 10-13% sucrose equivalent. Temporal char acteristics of aspartame and cyclamate are comparable to those of sucr ose and maltitol, whereas the T-I characteristics of NHDHC contrast wi th those of the other sweeteners, essentially because of its long onse t and persistence times. Bitter taste and bitter aftertaste are attrib utes that differentiate maltitol and sucrose from artificial sweetener s. Bitter and metallic are non-sweet aftertastes characteristic of cyc lamate, while NHDHC is mainly defined by a liquorice-like and cooling/ menthol flavour. Caramel flavour is associated with nutritive sweetene rs, and burnt sugar flavour is related to synthetic sweeteners, except cyclamate, which is characterized by both flavours. Copyright (C) 199 6 Elsevier Science Ltd