Thesis subject
BSc/MSc thesis: Linking food properties to sensory satiation
The last decades, the incidence and prevalence of obesity is increasing and reaching alarming levels in adults as well as in children. At this moment, more than 40% of the adult population in Western countries is overweight. The excess energy intake by overweight and obese people is primarily related to a larger meal size, and not to a larger meal frequency.
Meal termination, or satiation, is partly determined by sensory properties of foods (taste, odour and texture). For example, a liquid is less satiating than a solid food (texture difference). To get insight in the relationship between different sensory aspects of food and satiation will be helpful to prevent excess of energy intake and therefore overweight. A better understanding of this relationship will enable technologists in the food industry to develop foods with optimal properties that help people to maintain a moderate energy intake.
Taste
There are five basic tastants to distinguish: sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami. Together with a certain odour and texture, taste determines the perceived flavour of a food. At this moment, we investigate the effect of salt intensity on sensory satiation. Therefore, volunteers will eat from ‘high salty’ soup and ‘low salty’ soup. A more intense taste (high salty) may result in a faster decrease in pleasantness of the food and therefore less intake. Future experiments may focus on different tastants, for example sweet and sour. Also complexity (more tastants) versus non-complex foods (less tastants) may be an interesting future subject. Other possibilities may be the influence of texture differences or temperature on sensory satiation.
Experimental work
Experimental work may include:
- Preparing food with different sensory aspects
- Organising a sensory experiment
- Arranging a panel for you experiment
- Performing physiochemical measurements