Changes on expected taste perception of probiotic and conventional yogurts made from goat milk after rapidly repeated exposure

Goat milk yogurt is an excellent source of fatty acids, protein, and minerals; however, it is not well accepted by many consumers, due to its typical flavor derived from caprylic, capric, and caproic acids present in this milk and dairy products. Recently, the repeated-exposure test has been used to increase the consumption of particular foods. This methodology has been used to increase children's willingness to eat food in some settings and has also been used to reduce sodium in soup. Based on these considerations, the aim of this study was to investigate whether repeated exposures may increase acceptance of both goat milk yogurt and probiotic goat milk yogurt. In a pre-exposure session, a total of 45 panelists (28 females and 17 males) from southeastern Brazil, who were not used to consuming dairy goat milk, evaluated the expected taste perception and the perceived liking after tasting 3 yogurt preparations. Then, consumers were randomly divided into 3 groups and participated in rapidly repeated exposure sessions performed within 6 d. Each panelist consumed only the yogurt that he or she would be exposed to. The day after the exposure sessions, all panelists returned to participate in the postexposure session and were asked to evaluate acceptance, familiarity, and the “goaty taste” characteristic of each yogurt. Regarding the expected liking before tasting, results showed higher expectations for cow milk yogurt compared with goat milk yogurt, which proved that consumers were not familiar with the goat milk yogurt. Likewise, only cow milk yogurt presented high acceptance and familiarity rates, confirming that these panelists were used to consuming cow milk products. With respect to the rapidly repeated exposure, 6 d were enough to significantly increase the consumers' familiarity with goat milk yogurt and probiotic goat milk yogurt. However, this method was not suitable to significantly increase the acceptance of such products. Nonetheless, a correlation existed between the exposure sessions and the increase in acceptance of the exposure groups. Thus, hypothetically, the increasing of exposure sessions could be a strategy to increase goat milk product acceptance.