Flavor and taste evaluation of smoothies

The smoothie market has grown rapidly over the last years, driven mostly by the consumption habits of people who skip meals or eat snack foods instead. Since smoothies are healthy and offer convenience and portability, the market is expected to grow intensively in the next years. Nowadays, many brands can be found on the market and it is important for each company to be able to differentiate from other competitors to keep their customers.

A study has been conducted in our laboratory on several brands of smoothies, to compare the flavor and taste using our Fast Gas Chromatography HERACLES Electronic Nose and our Liquid Sensors ASTREE Electronic Tongue.  

This benchmarking analysis allowed to achieve a sensory mapping of the various brands of smoothies.

Regarding odor and flavor features, the electronic nose showed significant differences among the smoothies, differences linked with fruity, sweet, woody, earthy and citrus notes. The chemical compounds responsible for these sensory descriptors could be characterized thanks to AroChemBase library, which allow to investigate the molecules detected by gas chromatography based on Kovats Index matching.

As for taste attributes, the electronic tongue proved that important differences existed between the various smoothies in terms of saltiness and sourness.

To get more information about the sensory evaluation of smoothies using electronic nose and electronic tongue instruments, request application note ANT08.