Effect of micro-gel shape and concentration on sensory perception of micro-gels-enriched stirred yoghurts

• Experimental design has been established in order to create new stirred yoghurts textures.
• Effect of micro-gel size, shape and concentration on stirred yoghurt texture was studied.
• Sensory analysis and instrumental measurements were combined.
• Textural properties are dissociated by consistency and graininess.
• Sensory analysis was more accurate than instrumental analysis to distinct and to classify products.

Protein-enriched micro-gels of different morphologies were incorporated into stirred yoghurts. Resulting sensory and rheological properties were investigated. An experimental design was defined with two factors (micro-gel shape and concentration). Four different shapes were designed and three micro-gel concentrations were used (2.5, 5, 10 wt%). A Flash profile with experienced assessors was performed in combination with instrumental measurements in an attempt to relate the added micro-gel shape and concentration to sensory perception. The most important attributes to explain the texture of the micro-gels-enriched stirred yoghurts were consistency and graininess, which could then be associated to structural parameters. It has been shown that an increase in particle lengths and widths gave rise to a visual or mouthfeel grainy perception whereas the presence of entangled micro-gels contributed to instrumental and sensory consistency. Therefore, the sensory properties of micro-gels-enriched stirred yoghurts could clearly be distinguished depending on the characteristics of the added particles.

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