Laboratory hedonic ratings as predictors of consumption

The objective of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of laboratory sensory tests on consumption. Thirty-six subjects (30 women, six men; mean age 21 years) participated in a taste-and-spit test, a taste-and-swallow test, a fixed quantity test in which an amount of 300 g was consumed, and an ad libitum consumption test. Subjects rated on a 10-point category scale pleasantness and perceived sweetness intensity of yogurts varying in sucrose concentration (1, 5.9, 10, 17.6 and 30% w/w). Consumption was measured in the ad libitum consumption test. Results showed that the optimal sucrose concentration as determined by the taste-and-spit test (10% w/w) was higher than that determined from the taste-and-swallow test, the fixed quantity test and the ad libitum consumption test (5.9% w/w). The mean of within-subject's correlation coefficients between pleasantness ratings and amount of yogurt eaten in the ad libitum consumption test were 0.45, 0.62, 0.75 and 0.81 for the taste-and-spit test, the taste-and-swallow test, the fixed quantity test and the ad libitum consumption test, respectively. The perceived sweetness intensity did not change as function of the sensory test used. We conclude that pleasantness ratings collected after the taste-and-swallow test give a better prediction of consumption than the taste-and-spit test. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.