Rescuing Flavor Identity and Dynamic Perception in Puréed Dishes; A Restructuring Solution for the Purée Diet

With age, difficulties with masticating and swallowing means food consistency and structure must be modified, such as puréeing food. However, elderly consumers have reported that puréed food’s taste lacks appeal. This study shows how puréeing food changes the recognition and dynamics of flavors and new strategies to improve them. Further, to measure the identification and dynamics of flavor, a new sensory method was investigated that combined Free Choice and Temporal Order of Sensation (Free-TOS). Three dishes (macaroni, pizza, and potato salad), their purées, and three pasta purées with added flavors (cheese and dry-cured ham; added directly or as an oil in water emulsion or using two types of emulsions (oil in water and water in oil) were assessed by three groups of 60 consumers using Free-TOS. Results showed that in the purée the frequency of mentioned sensations decreased compared with the dish, as it was more difficult to identify flavors. Adding flavors in powder form only allowed a cheese/ham flavor identification, but in the purées with emulsions, it was possible to identify the dry-cured ham flavor. Therefore, this study showed that the Free-TOS method does not need a predetermined attribute list and registers the actual identified flavors and their order of appearance.