EFFECT OF SWEETENER TYPE AND OF SWEETENER AND ACID LEVELS ON TEMPORALPERCEPTION OF SWEETNESS, SOURNESS AND FRUITINESS

Sweetness, sourness and fruitiness of 18 orange-flavored solutions, wi th three levels of citric acid (0.75, 1,5, 2.25 g/l) and three equi-sw eet levels of either sucrose (80, 100, 120 g/l) or aspartame (0.6, 0.7 , 0.8 g/l), were evaluated by time-intensity methodology. At these con centrations, a larger range in sourness intensity than in sweetness wa s produced, resulting in greater suppression of sweetness by increasin g acid levels than of sourness by increasing sweetener levels. Althoug h aspartame samples had a longer duration of sweetness and fruitiness, sucrose and aspartame did not interact differently with the sourness of citric acid. Fruitiness intensity and duration was enhanced by both sweetness and sourness, but to a greater extent by sourness. Whether this enhancement is attributable to a cognitive association of sweetne ss or sourness with fruitiness or is due to the inability of the subje cts to separate sweet and sour tastes from orally perceived fruity fla vor cannot be concluded from this study.