On the road to understanding and control of creaminess perception in food colloids

Creaminess is recognized to be a complex sensory attribute. Consumers generally describe it as a pleasant desirable property that is closely related to other positive attributes such as thickness, smoothness, mouth-coating and dairy flavour. Such knowledge has been derived from various sensory studies involving a broad range of food products such as yoghurt, custard and ice cream, as well as from experiments involving model emulsion-based systems. In the case of well-defined oil-in-water emulsions and emulsion gels, understanding of the underlying mechanistic basis of creaminess perception has been enhanced by fundamental studies of the interactions of emulsion droplets with saliva and the stability of oil droplets at oral surfaces. In terms of the physical parameters influencing creaminess perception, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of tribological factors (lubrication) as well as bulk rheology (viscosity). In developing reduced-fat products with a creamy mouthfeel, the food technologist has a range of formulation strategies available - the enhancement of oil droplet aggregation, the fabrication of double emulsions, the incorporation of microbubbles, and the use of functional ingredients such as microparticulated protein and hydrocolloid thickening agents. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.