Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Barry Callebaut Belgium NV, Aalstersestraat 122, 9280 Wieze, Belgium.
Food Res Int. 2018 Sep;111:39-49. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.05.007. Epub 2018 May 7.
Dark chocolates are rich sources of polyphenols, widely acknowledged for eliciting several beneficial health effects. However, these compounds are key inducers of bitter taste and astringency, potentially limiting consumers' acceptance of chocolates with higher cocoa contents. In order to gain better insight in consumers' choices, the present study investigated the temporal profile of bitterness and astringency as well as sweet taste as covering agent, during the testing period in 5 dark origin (OR) (66.8-80.1% cocoa) and 6 non-origin (N-OR) (54.5-80.0% cocoa) chocolates with different cocoa contents, applying Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS). The temporal profile of the evaluated OR chocolates was characterized by the dominance of bitterness independent of cocoa contents (%cc), reaching maximum dominance rates (DR%) between 60.0 and 80.0% over approximately 75.0% of the testing period, i.e. prior to swallowing. After swallowing, astringency dominated, mostly not significantly. DR (%) of sweetness reached the level of significance only in one sample (OR 67.4%cc). N-OR chocolates with 54.5-60.0%cc were characterized by significant dominances of sweet taste along the entire evaluation period, reaching maximum DR% between 90 and 95%. The increase of cocoa contents was combined with higher DR% of bitter taste. Astringency dominated in N-OR samples at the end of the evaluation period presumably after swallowing. Finally, in N-OR chocolates, cc% highly affected the dominance of the evaluated attributes. This impact was found to be rather minor or absent in OR chocolates. Thus, the TDS-parameters showed variations in attribute's dominance in OR and N-OR chocolates indicating a strong influence of cocoa bean variety and local conditions (environmental and farming conditions as well as post-harvest treatment practices) in addition to cocoa contents.
黑巧克力是多酚的丰富来源，这些多酚被广泛认为具有多种有益的健康作用。然而，这些化合物是苦味和涩味的关键诱导物，可能会限制消费者对可可含量较高的巧克力的接受度。为了更好地了解消费者的选择，本研究通过时间强度（Temporal Dominance of Sensations，TDS）法，调查了苦味和涩味的时间分布特征，以及甜味作为覆盖剂的作用，在对 5 种黑原产（OR）（66.8-80.1%可可）和 6 种非原产（N-OR）（54.5-80.0%可可）巧克力进行测试期间，这些巧克力的可可含量不同。评估的 OR 巧克力的时间分布特征是由苦味的主导作用决定的，而与可可含量（%cc）无关，苦味的最大主导率（DR%）在大约 75.0%的测试期内达到 60.0-80.0%，即在吞咽之前。吞咽后，涩味占主导地位，但大多不显著。甜味的 DR%仅在一个样本（OR 67.4%cc）中达到显著水平。可可含量为 54.5-60.0%cc 的 N-OR 巧克力的特点是整个评估期内甜味的显著主导作用，最大 DR%在 90-95%之间。可可含量的增加伴随着苦味的 DR%升高。涩味在评估结束时（推测是在吞咽后）主导 N-OR 样品。最后，在 N-OR 巧克力中，cc%高度影响了评估属性的主导地位。在 OR 巧克力中，这种影响较小或不存在。因此，TDS 参数显示了 OR 和 N-OR 巧克力中属性主导地位的变化，表明可可豆品种和当地条件（环境和种植条件以及收获后处理实践）除了可可含量外，对属性的主导地位有很强的影响。
