Sensorial and instrumental parameters of chocolate-flavored dairy desserts obtained in the retail trade

Abstract

The food industry has presented a great diversification of products with different flavors, textures, and target consumers. In particular, the dairy dessert branch presents a wide range of milk- and dairy-based products. Chocolate-flavored dairy desserts are one of the most common types of commercial desserts in Brazil. In this context, the aim of this work was to evaluate the sensory and instrumental attributes of chocolate dairy desserts available in the local market. Five brands of commercial dairy desserts available in retail markets were evaluated for their instrumental color, apparent viscosity and sensory attributes to determine how they affect consumers’ perceptions using penalty analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. A lack of uniformity between the analyzed samples was observed, a fact confirmed by the sensory perspective since for most of the attributes, consumers considered the samples to be above or below the ideal, and overall liking, color and flavor were the most significant attributes that could positively influence the buying decision. The attributes of sensory and instrumental analysis could be an important tool for the food industry to determine the points of weakness of products and the desires of target consumers.