The Sensory Evaluation of Food Products Made with Varying Levels of Sucrose and Fructose and of Threshold Measurements of Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus
Abstract
The relative sweetness, flavor, texture and overall acceptance of sucrose and fructose was determined at various sugar levels in sugar cookies, white cake, vanilla pudding and lemonade. Because of the reported increased sweetness of fructose and its increased tolerance in individuals with diabetes mellitus, the study was designed to investigate the possibility of fructose as an alternative sweetener.
Taste panel members were used to evaluate the products. All products were served in duplicate and only data from those judges who had sampled both replications were used for the statistical analysis. Each product was prepared at 100%, 50% and 25% of the specified recipe quantity, using three different sugars: sucrose, fructose equal to sucrose by weight and fructose equal to sucrose by volume. A second objective of this study was to determine if quantities less than suggested in traditional recipes for either sugar could be used without damaging product acceptability.
The results of this study indicated that sucrose was both preferred and considered sweeter than fructose in sugar cookies, however; the reverse held true in lemonade. Based on the results of this study the author does not recommend that individuals substitute fructose for sucrose.
In addition to panels comparing sucrose and fructose in baked products, the difference in diabetic and nondiabetic taste sensitivity was also evaluated. Detection and recognition thresholds were determined for diabetic and nondiabetic youth (19-15 yrs.) and adults (16 yrs. and older) for sweet, sour, salty and bitter taste stimuli. Diabetics showed a lower sensitivity, especially in older individuals, with the exception of sour stimuli. As previously reported, detection thresholds were lower than recognition thresholds. The youth groups were better able to detect the presence of stimuli at lower levels than the adult groups, however, they were not as good at recognizing the stimuli.