COMBINING CLUSTER ANALYSIS, SURFACE RESPONSE METHODOLOGY AND JAR SCALES TO INCREASE CONSUMER INPUT IN OPTIMIZING ACCEPTABILITY OF A HIGH-PROTEIN SOY DESSERT

摘要

Acceptance of a new high-protein (6.75 g/serving), citrus-flavored, soy-based dessert with different concentrations of sucrose (5-17%) and citrus flavor (50- 350 ppm) has been optimizing using the response surface method (RSM) in conjunction with consumer segmentation and with just-about-right (JAR) scales. Relationships between acceptability scores and composition variables were determined for the overall consumer population (130 consumers) and for two subgroups of consumers with different preference criteria, identified by cluster analysis. While for subgroup I (44 consumers) the composition factors did not show a clear influence on acceptability, for subgroup II (86 consumers) acceptability was well explained in terms of sucrose and citrus flavor contents (R2 = 94.4). Results obtained using JAR scales showed that the main differences between both consumer subgroups were related to adequacy of citrus flavor, sweetness and consistency data. Relating JAR percentages and hedonic data provide useful information for explaining differences in hedonic scores.