Changes in Flavour, Emotion and Electrophysiological Measurements When Chocolate Ice Cream Is Consumed in Different Eating Environments

Date
2018
Authors
Xu, Yun
Supervisor
Hamid, Nazimah
Shepherd, Daniel
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Science
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Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

The eating context is becoming an increasingly important area of research as it influences eating behaviour and hedonic perception of food. This study investigated temporal flavour changes of chocolate ice cream consumed in the laboratory, café, university study area and bus stop environments, and how emotion and electrophysiological measurements were influenced. The temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) method was used to analyse the dominance rate of flavour perception in different environments after consuming ice cream. The emotional responses of participants were measured using the check-all-that-apply (CATA) list of emotions particularly developed for this study in the different environments after consuming ice cream. Electrophysiological measurements of heart rate (HR), blood volume pulse (BVP) and skin conductance (SC) were also determined. TDS results revealed significant differences between the dominant flavour perceptions of ice cream in the different environments. Canonical variate analysis (CVA) further demonstrated the relationship between flavour perception and frequencies of emotion responses when ice cream was consumed in different eating environments. The standardized duration of flavour perception (p < 0.05) and the frequencies of emotional responses (p < 0.001) showed significant difference between the different eating environments using the Hotelling-Lawley MANOVA analysis. The café environment was correlated with most of the positive emotions and sweet flavour. The university study area environment was correlated with positive and negative emotions, and cocoa and milky flavours. The bus stop environment was correlated with most of the negative emotions, and roasted and bitter flavours. The laboratory environment was correlated with the concentrating attribute and creamy flavour. SC was significantly increased in the university study area compared to the laboratory environment (p < 0.05), and HR was significantly decreased in the university study area environment compared to the bus stop environment (p < 0.05). The evidence from this study indicates that the eating environments is an important factor to consider when carrying out sensory testing as emotions, sensory perception, electrophysiological responses of participants are all influenced differently when food is consumed in different environments.

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Keywords
Chocolate ice cream , Eating environment , TDS , Electrophysiological measurements , Emotion
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