Palatability, digestibility and emotional pattern in 60 healthy volunteers after ingestion of an iced dessert presented in four different flavours: a subjective evaluation

Several variables lead to changes in human and animal eating behaviour and food choices. A pivotal role is played by food palatability, represented by food, smell, taste, texture, appearance and temperature. The aim of our study is to assess the potential differences in palatability and digestibility of four different flavoured iced desserts, consumed at the end of a standardized meal, and their impact on the emotional status of 60 healthy volunteers. Sixty healthy volunteers, after ENT and psychological assessment, were asked to fill out a Psycho-Emotional Questionnaire (PEQ) to assess their basal emotional pattern before the consumption of an iced dessert at the end of a standard meal, after which they completed an Organoleptic-Sensory Questionnaire (OSQ), a Dynamic Digestibility Questionnaire (DDQ) and again the PEQ. Four different flavors (lemon, tangerine, pineapple and chocolate) were tested on 4 consecutive days on the same subjects. Most of the 60 subjects, by means of OSQ, found taste, aspect, texture and smell of the 4 flavours pleasant, lemon and tangerine were the freshest and lightest. The DDQ identified pineapple and chocolate dessert as those less digestible. By means of PEQ we recorded an improvement in joy, mood and activation, associated with good data of digestibility and palatability after the consumption of all flavors. Our data showed that all flavors improve joy, mood and activation, after their consumption, without statistically significant differences. However, among the tested flavours, lemon and tangerine appear to be the most pleasant and those which facilitate the digestive process.