Identification of factors influencing the texture sensitivity of young healthy volunteers based on a model for distinguishing the hardness of an agar-gelatin gel

• Sergey V. Popov
• Vasily V. Smirnov

Abstract

Elucidating the causes of variability in food texture sensitivity is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying food choice and portion size, eating rates, and enjoyment of food. Since texture perception significantly affects eating behavior, it is assumed that ability to recognize food texture, in turn, may depend on eating behavior.

The aim of the study was to elucidate the relationship between the ability to recognize the hardness of an agar-gelatin gel, on the one hand, and the nutritional value of the diet, the type of eating behavior and the level of hunger and satiety feelings, on the other hand.

Material and methods. In 38 healthy residents of Syktyvkar (15 men, 23 women aged 21 to 31 years) food textural sensitivity was determined by pairwise comparison of the hardness of model agar-gelatin gels and the level of the feeling of stomach fullness at the time of testing. All participants completed a food diary, the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, the Yale Food Addiction Scale, and assessed the standard organoleptic and hedonic properties of commercial fruit jelly. Statistical processing of the data was performed using non-parametric statistics: the Mann-Whitney U-test, Fisher’s exact test, and calculating the Spearman’s correlation coefficient.

Results. The ability to recognize the hardness of food gel was found to vary significantly among the participants. The percentage of correct answers given by participants with high food textural sensitivity (n=20) was equal to 92 and 82% when comparing agar-gelatin gels with hardness in the range of 40-300 and 800-1000 kPa, respectively. Participants with low food texture sensitivity (n=18) gave the correct answer in 74 and 31% of cases when tasting soft and hard gels, respectively. Participants with high and low sensitivity to food gel texture did not differ in the type of eating behavior, as well as in the average daily intake of energy, macronutrients and dietary fiber. Correlation analysis revealed a negative relationship (r_s=-0.37, p=0.020) between the percentage of correct answers when determining the hardness of the agar-gelatin gel and the level of the stomach fullness among all participants (n=38). In the sensory evaluation of fruit jelly, it was found that the descriptor «hard» was chosen by 60 and 22% (p=0.025) of the participants from the groups with high and low textural sensitivity, respectively.

Conclusion. The ability to discriminate the hardness of an agar-gelatin gel is higher in people with a low level of stomach fullness feeling. Sensitivity to the texture of food gel is not related to energy value and macronutrient content in the daily diet and does not depend on the type of eating behavior. Participants with high food textural sensitivity are more likely to use the characteristic “hard” when evaluating fruit jelly.

Keywords:sensitivity to food texture, food hardness, eating behavior, stomach fullness

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