The relative importance of texture, taste and aroma on a yogurt-type snack food preference in the young and the elderly

The study examined the relative importance of texture, taste and aroma for overall pleasantness of a yoghurt-like fermented oat bran product in the elderly (n=45, 65-82 years) compared to the young (n=47, 20-35 years). Texture (lumpy vs. smooth), taste intensity (sweetness) and aroma intensity (orange aroma) were varied using 2x2x2 factorial design. For the young, the most important factor predicting overall pleasantness of the samples was aroma, while taste and texture had only little importance. The elderly responded equally strongly to aroma and taste and found both textures almost equally acceptable. However, texture had a relatively small effect on the overall pleasantness in general: In conclusion; the relative importance of texture, taste and aroma of the fermented oat bran product differed from the young to the elderly: the relative importance of taste was more pronounced in the case of the elderly compared to the young. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.