Rebaudioside (Reb) D and M are the recent focus of the food industry to address the undesirable aftertaste of Reb A, which is the most commonly used steviol glycoside in natural sweetener stevia. The first study evaluated the sensory characteristics of Reb A, D, and M, compared to 14% (w/v) sucrose, using a consumer panel and explored the relationship between 6-n-Propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status (i.e., non-tasters, medium tasters, supertasters) and the perceived intensity of sweet and bitter tastes of the three steviol glycosides. The results showed that Reb D and M had sensory profiles that were closer to sucrose, compared to Reb A, but were associated with negative sensation, such as artificial, and Reb M was higher in lingering sweetness than sucrose (P < 0.001), which may cause negative perception toward Reb D and M. No significant differences were found among the PROP taster groups on the perceived sweetness and bitterness of Reb A, D, and M, suggesting that supertasters may not report aversive sensations from stevia. The second study was aimed to develop a new protocol for the electronic tongue (E-tongue), which is an analytical instrument for the sensory evaluation of taste, to discriminate stevia leaves for its potential use in stevia breeding programs as a method of testing flavor quality. With the new protocol, the E-tongue successfully separated Reb A, D, and M and discriminated among stevia leaf samples. This suggests that E-tongue has the potential to be used in stevia breeding programs for flavor selection.
Read
