Coffee Drinking and Emotions: Are There Key Sensory Drivers for Emotions?

Preparation of β-Cyclodextrin(CD)/Flavour CD Powder and Its Application on Flavour Improvement of Regular Coffee

To improve the overall sensory evaluation of regular coffee, a mixture of β-CD/flavour CD powder was prepared by a freeze-drying method. Cyclodextrin inclusion complexes consist of eight compounds that are naturally present in coffee, specifically: 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, benzaldehyde, citral, linalool, limonene, phenethyl acetate, furfural, and ethyl acetate. These eight compounds naturally occur in coffee, making them safer than using other compounds. Moreover, these eight compounds are the primary active ingredients in coffee, significantly influencing its flavour profile. Therefore, choosing to complex these eight compounds with cyclodextrins can effectively enhance the taste of the coffee. XRD, FT-IR, and SDE-GC-FID were presented to study the formation of inclusion CD powder, the storage stability, chemical composition changes, and safety. Results show that by the cyclodextrin method of freeze-drying, the CD powder showed a stable encapsulated structure and increased stability of flavour compounds. Based on the coffee aroma analysis results, prepared CD powder can enhance the coffee's aroma score by 3.0-4.0 points and increase the flavour score by 2.1-3.5 points, and it can achieve preservation for a minimum of 181 days at 25 °C. Furthermore, under the requirements of the China national standard for additives, the mixture of β-CD/flavour CD powder was used for the cup testing with four regular coffees to obtain improved coffees. With the full score is 10, improved coffees could score extra 3.0-4.0 points on aroma and 2.1-3.5 on flavour compared to regular coffee. In addition, the CD powder also improves the quality of the coffee in terms of aftertaste, body, and sweetness. Overall, β-CD/flavour CD powders provide several advantages over the currently popular coffee bean processing methods, including improved reproducibility, enhanced controllability, and increased flexibility, while prioritizing safety. And it should be explored further with appropriate compounds given its potential for coffee aroma modulation.

Consumer acceptability and fragrance quality differentiate on of Mogiana coffee types using the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) method

Coffee, one of the most produced and consumed beverage in the world, has a range of variability in its quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the consumer capacity to perceive the coffee quality through their fragrance and to verify the influence of previous information about quality on this perception using hedonic scale and Check All That Apply (CATA) sensory tests. The sensory tests were performed in two stages, one without and the other with quality related information of Mogiana coffee samples (Rio, Hard and Soft), and a traditional coffee sample. CATA attributes frequency of occurrence shows that samples discrimination could be done with specific attributes. For Soft coffee the attributes with more occurrence were sweet, caramel, brown sugar, and smooth. The Hard coffee sample was described by the attributes peanut, buttery, and chocolate. While for Rio coffee, the descriptive attributes most often mentioned were strong and burnt. The traditional sample stood out among consumers for its characteristics of old, medicine, sour, burnt, unpleasant and spicy. Therefore, the use of coffee powder fragrance can be alternative to differentiate the quality of the product and its function can be enhanced by passing on information on quality attributes to consumers.

Sensory Drivers of Consumer Acceptance, Purchase Intent and Emotions toward Brewed Black Coffee

The link between coffee aroma/flavor and elicited emotions remains underexplored. This research identified key sensory characteristics of brewed black coffee that affected acceptance, purchase intent and emotions for Thai consumers. Eight Arabica coffee samples were evaluated by eight trained descriptive panelists for intensities of 26 sensory attributes and by 100 brewed black coffee users for acceptance, purchase intent and emotions. Results showed that the samples exhibited a wide range of sensory characteristics, and large differences were mainly described by the attributes coffee identity (coffee ID), roasted, bitter taste, balance/blended and fullness. Differences also existed among the samples for overall liking, purchase intent and most emotion terms. Partial least square regression analysis revealed that liking, purchase intent and positive emotions, such as active, alert, awake, energetic, enthusiastic, feel good, happy, jump start, impressed, pleased, refreshed and vigorous were driven by coffee ID, roasted, ashy, pipe tobacco, bitter taste, rubber, overall sweet, balanced/blended, fullness and longevity. Contrarily, sour aromatic, sour taste, fruity, woody, musty/earthy, musty/dusty and molasses decreased liking, purchase intent and positive emotions, and stimulated negative emotions, such as disappointed, grouchy and unfulfilled. This information could be useful for creating or modifying the sensory profile of brewed black coffee to increase consumer acceptance.

Antioxidant and Sensory Assessment of Innovative Coffee Blends of Reduced Caffeine Content

Considering the current trend in the global coffee market, which involves an increased demand for decaffeinated coffee, the aim of the present study was to formulate coffee blends with reduced caffeine content, but with pronounced antioxidant and attractive sensory properties. For this purpose, green and roasted Arabica and Robusta coffee beans of different origins were subjected to the screening analysis of their chemical and bioactive composition using standard AOAC, spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods. From roasted coffee beans, espresso, Turkish and filter coffees were prepared, and their sensory evaluation was performed using a 10-point hedonic scale. The results showed that Arabica coffee beans were richer in sucrose and oil, while Robusta beans were characterized by higher content of all determined bioactive parameters. Among all studied samples, the highest content of 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (14.09 mg g⁻¹ dmb), 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (8.23 mg g⁻¹ dmb) and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4.65 mg g⁻¹ dmb), as well as caffeine (22.38 mg g⁻¹ dmb), was detected in roasted Robusta beans from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, which were therefore used to formulate coffee blends with reduced caffeine content. Robusta brews were found to be more astringent and recognized as more sensorily attractive, while Arabica decaffeinated brews were evaluated as more bitter. The obtained results point out that coffee brews may represent a significant source of phenolic compounds, mainly caffeoylquinic acids, with potent antioxidant properties, even if they have reduced caffeine content.

Isoflavones and Bioactivities in Over-fermented Tempeh Extracts

Tempeh is nutritious food prepared through solid-state fermentation of cooked and dehulled soybeans with Rhizopus sp. for about 48 h. Fermentation beyond 48 h resulted in over-fermented tempeh. There may or may not have been similar research done before, especially related to its antioxidant and cytotoxicity. This study aims to determine the characteristics of fermented tempeh for up to 156 h. Samples were fermented at 0, 24, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120, and 156 h. Samples were dried, grounded, and extracted with acetone, followed by defatting with n‑hexane. Extracts were dissolved in organic solvents for free radical scavenging activity (FRSA) and cytotoxicity assays. The 120-h tempeh extract, at the concentration of 1,000 μg/mL, demonstrated the highest FRSA (81.31% inhibition) against 100 µM 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) solution. Meanwhile, the 108-h tempeh extract at 1,000 μg/mL possessed the highest cytotoxicity (IC50 of 2.54 μg/mL) against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) analysis revealed the presence of daidzin, genistin, daidzein, and genistein in all extracts. Extracts prepared from 108 h and 120 h tempeh stood out from other extracts in the Partial Least Square (PLS) bi-plot due to their high percentage of inhibition, low response of daidzin, and high responses of the other three isoflavones. The cytotoxicity assays of the standard isoflavones showed that genistein had the lowest IC50 value at 4.82 ± 0.11 μg/mL. Standard genistein showed a low percentage of inhibition at 29.79 ± 9.10.

Technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method for the generation of external preference mapping using rapid sensometric techniques

BACKGROUND

External preference mapping is a powerful tool to explain consumer preference or rejection. Combining the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) multicriteria analysis with rapid descriptive techniques can improve preference map (PREFMAP) results. This study was conducted to compare the PREFMAPs generated with rapid descriptive flash profile (FP), check-all-that-apply (CATA), and Napping® versus PREFMAPs constructed with FP-TOPSIS, CATA-TOPSIS, and Napping-TOPSIS.

RESULTS

Only 38.46%, 63.66%, and 42% of sensory attributes initially generated by FP, CATA, and Napping techniques respectively were considered for the determination of their weight W and allocation as positive or negative in the TOPSIS technique. The PREFMAPs constructed with FP-TOPSIS, CATA-TOPSIS, and Napping-TOPSIS presented a better explanation of the preference and rejection than the PREFMAPs directly generated with rapid sensory techniques. The results of the multiple factor analysis and coefficient Rv indicated similarities in the sensory vocabularies used after the TOPSIS technique.

CONCLUSION

The combination of the TOPSIS technique with rapid sensory techniques is a reliable alternative for the construction of PREFMAPs in order to identify the sensory attributes responsible for preference and rejection of food products. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Barriers to consumption of plant-based beverages: A comparison of product users and non-users on emotional, conceptual, situational, conative and psychographic variables

Production and consumption practices that reduce the environmental burden of eating and drinking and promote global sustainability are of paramount interest. Against this background, we present a quantitative study of US adults' perceptions of selected non-alcoholic beverages including pairs of regular and plant-based alternatives (iced coffee/iced coffee with almond milk, fruit smoothie/fruit smoothie with soy milk and cow's milk/oat milk). Particular focus was directed to comparing product perceptions of consumers who never consumed these plant-based alternatives with those who did (n = 249 and n = 274), as a means for contextualising the barriers that hinder uptake among non-users. The data were collected via an online survey with a multi-response empirical strategy where the beverages were characterised using a large set of emotional, conceptual, situational, and attitudinal/behavioural variables. Fitting expectations, negative associations were dominant in the group of consumers who never consumed the plant-based beverage variants. However, these associations were product dependent and decreased in the order: oat milk, fruit smoothie with soy milk and iced coffee with almond milk. This pointed to a likely interplay of sensory properties, situational appropriateness and household routines. Food neophobia negatively influenced perceptions of less familiar products, including but not limited to plant-based beverages. While the research was limited to a small number of beverages and plant-based alternatives, it identified the important role that in-depth and product-specific investigations have in helping to uncover and overcome barriers to sustainable eating and drinking solutions.

Functional Needs, Emotions, and Perceptions of Coffee Consumers and Non-Consumers

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide. Over the last decades coffee has become a specialty product. Drinking a coffee beverage entails several mixed factors, such as pleasure, experience, lifestyle, and social status. It can also provide an emotional pick-up, both mentally and physically. Only a few studies have explored the motives and emotions of coffee consumption and not consumption. There is limited understanding of consumers’ emotional approach towards coffee, and what influences a positive and negative inclination towards coffee consumption. This research fills the current research gaps by addressing three main questions: (i) What are the emotions and habits of coffee consumption? (ii) What are the motives of coffee consumption and non-consumption? and (iii) How relevant is the coffee health impact perception of consuming or not consuming coffee? The research activities include 467 face-to-face interviews with consumers. Interviews are performed in two different countries, Italy and Portugal. Data elaboration includes a principal component analysis carried out to identify latent factors on motives and emotions of consumption in both national groups, and to explore the relationship between the main emotions and consumers’ habits and socio-economic characteristics. Results support that consumers have positive emotions from coffee consumption. Perceived emotions are energy, satisfaction, and pleasure. Non-consumption is mainly driven by taste and fear of coffee’s health impacts. There are limited differences in the countries analysed. Socio-economic characteristics limitedly influence perceived emotions and consumption motives. To conclude, consumers are increasingly interested in new coffee products. Understanding the functional and emotional factors of coffee consumption contributes to supporting new coffee product development and commercialisation.

Coffee Flavor: A Review

Flavor continues to be a driving force for coffee’s continued growth in the beverage market today. Studies have identified the sensory aspects and volatile and non-volatile compounds that characterize the flavor of different coffees. This review discusses aspects that influence coffee drinking and aspects such as environment, processing, and preparation that influence flavor. This summary of research studies employed sensory analysis (either descriptive and discrimination testing and or consumer testing) and chemical analysis to determine the impact aspects on coffee flavor.