Prebiotic gluten-free bread: Sensory profiling and drivers of liking

•Differences in formulation of gluten-free breads influenced the sensory perception.•Breads supplemented with raw sugar and FOS were most acceptable.•Sweet taste and crumb color were considered drivers of liking.

The wide prevalence of celiac disease and wheat allergy has led to a growing demand for gluten-free foods that present a suitable sensory acceptance. This research aimed to identify the drivers of liking of prebiotic gluten-free breads. A consumer test with 65 celiac people was performed. In addition, the sensory profiling was carried out by 15 trained assessors using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). By using QDA, the samples differed significantly in relation to all attributes, and partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to identify the drivers of liking of gluten-free breads. The results show that the most desired sensory properties of such products are apparent softness, traditional bread aroma, sweetness and crumb color. In this context, these attributes can be considered drivers of liking of prebiotic gluten-free breads and they should be taken into consideration by bakery processors at the development of new gluten-free products.