BACKGROUND: It is crucial to reduce the high sugar content of fruit yoghurts in response to the excessive weight gain epidemic. The use of alternative sweeteners in yoghurts is often associated with the negative sensory attributes that can have an impact on yoghurt liking. The main objective of this research was to investigate the effect of alternative sweeteners and strawberry puree addition on the temporal sensory profile of yoghurt using multiple-intake temporal check all that apply (TCATA). A novel approach to the statical analysis of the temporal sensory data was employed by using Aligned Rank Transformation (ART)-ANOVA to investigate the differences between sensory attributes within different product and within different intakes.

RESULTS: Results showed that attributes sweet and fruity decreased when the concentration of fruit puree was increased at low concentration of sucrose. Interestingly, when the concentration of fruit puree was increased fruitiness increased and mouthcoating decreased at low concentration of stevia. With successive intakes, attributes sweet, sour, creamy and fruity significantly decreased in yoghurts sweetened with sucrose, xylitol and stevia. Yoghurts containing low concentration of sucrose or xylitol and fruit puree were liked the most. However, stevia-sweetened yoghurts varying in sweetener and puree concentration were not significantly different in liking. In order to investigate the consumer acceptance of yoghurts, a novel approach was used i.e., utilising TCATA temporal data to investigate temporal drivers of liking for each yoghurt type.

CONCLUSION: The use of multiple statistical analysis to analyse temporal data suggested that both sweetener and puree concentration need to be considered when developing products using alternative sweeteners. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.