Acceptance of commercial powdered orange flavored refreshment and their correlation to physicochemical parameters

Abstract

Powdered fruit-flavored soft drinks have gone through changes in their formulation with the addition of ulp, juice and gums, leading to a great diversity in market products nowadays. The objective of this work was to evaluate if the consumers acceptance for 12 orange-flavored powdered drink mix could be correlated to their physicochemical characteristics. The parameters determined were pH, titratable acidity,soluble solids, vitamin C content, color and turbidity. The results were analyzed by ANOVA and Principal Component Analysis. Consumers (56), using a nine point hedonic scale, evaluated the acceptance. ANOVA and Internal Preference Mapping were applied to data. Considering the average grades, it was observed that the orange flavored powered drinks were accepted (values from 5.0 to 6.0). The use of the Map allowed the identification and characterization of consumers groups and their preferences. The majority of the consumers (60.7%) preferred samples characterized by intermediate values of ratio (10 to 15 OBRIX.100mL/g), orange color (0.9 to 1.5 UA) and cloudiness (0.6 to 0.75 UA), as well as high pH (3.0 to 3.2). The other panelists were divided between two groups. One (17.9%) preferred products with low cloudiness, clearer and less acids. The other group (17.9%) preferred samples more turbid and with an intense orange color.