Capturing key sensory moments during biscuit consumption: Using TDS to evaluate several concurrent sensory modalities

In an industrial context focusing on fat reduction in biscuits, the temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) evaluation method was applied to six biscuits differing in fat level (full, 30% fat reduced, or 50% fat reduced) and fat quality (butter or margarine). A list of 10 attributes for texture, taste, and olfactive modalities was produced based on a previously undertaken sensory profile (data not shown). TDS curves, pairwise comparison curves, and sensory trajectories were valuable tools for identifying the main dominance differences according to fat levels. The 50% fat-reduced products were clearly discriminated from full-fat products. Inclusion of the three sensory modalities within the attribute list was anticipated as a complex task. Nevertheless, specific sensory phases were identified and key flavor dominances defined. Dynamic sensory profiling opens the door to the creation of tailor-made flavor compositions that compensate for part of the identified olfactive and taste losses. Practical Applications This work highlights the added value of considering several sensory modalities: taste, olfaction, and texture, at the same time, into TDS study. The definition of specific sensory phases over the food consumption will guide products developers to create specific flavors or combinations of flavors and taste compounds to cover the sensory gap observed in fat, sugar, or salt reduction context.