Relationship between pungency and food components - A comparison of chemical and sensory evaluations

•The time-intensity parameter Imax depends on the complexity of the matrix.•Pungency perception is strongly influenced by the starch content in food.•Results obtained from model food matrices can be applied to convenience products.•The HPLC analysis and the sensory evaluation (Imax) correlate with an R2 of 0.8029.

The influence of food ingredients (water, starch, fat, and sugar), individually and in combination, on the sensory perception of the pungency of capsaicin was studied in model food systems using the time-intensity method. Furthermore, the transferability of the results obtained using model food matrices to complex matrices, such as convenience salsas, was investigated. Significant differences between the samples (p < 0.05) were examined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey-HSD post hoc test. A highly complex matrix and a high starch content reduced the perception of pungency in both the model food matrices and the convenience salsa products. Therefore, the time-related maximum intensity of pungency (Imax) was affected by other factors in addition to the capsaicin concentration.The total capsaicinoid content in the salsas was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and correlated to the results of the sensory evaluation. The best correlation (R2 = 0.8029) was observed for the total capsaicinoid content and the maximum intensity of pungency (Imax) in comparison to the duration of the total pungency perception TDur (R2 = 0.5176) and the area under the curve (R2 = 0.6898). The calculated regression models serve as an example of how empirical calculations can be generated and used in a specific context.