A cross-cultural study of preference for apple juice with different sugar and acid contents

This paper presents a sensory profile and a consumer study on apple juice with reduced sugar content compared to what is the normal sugar content in commercially available apple juices. Samples were made from concentrate and diluted with water, and sugar and acid were added in different concentrations. Results of sensory description of the samples followed the design of the sugar/acid content in the samples. The consumer study was conducted in both Spain and Norway. A majority of the consumers preferred the sweetest samples, i.e., those samples with the same sugar level as commercial juice. About half of the consumers preferred the samples with the highest acidity and the other half preferred the samples with the lowest acidity. No clear differences in preference for the juice samples were found between the two countries. When focus was given to sweetness using a JAR-scale, many consumers found the sweetest sample too sweet even if they preferred the sample before sweetness was in focus.