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Review
. 2021 Feb 16;10(2):433.
doi: 10.3390/foods10020433.

Influence of Age and Individual Differences on Mouthfeel Perception of Whey Protein-Fortified Products: A Review

Victoria Norton  1 , Stella Lignou  1 , Lisa Methven  1
Affiliations
Review

Influence of Age and Individual Differences on Mouthfeel Perception of Whey Protein-Fortified Products: A Review

Victoria Norton et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Protein needs are considered to increase with age, with protein consumption being associated with many positive outcomes. Protein-fortified products are often used to improve nutritional status and prevent age-related muscle mass loss in older adults. Accordingly, older adults are commonly provided with products fortified with whey protein; however, such products can cause mouthdrying, limiting consumption and product enjoyment. Currently, the extent to which age and individual differences (e.g., saliva, oral health, food oral processing) influence the perception of whey protein-derived mouthdrying is relatively unclear. Previous research in this area has mainly focused on investigating mouthdrying, without taking into account individual differences that could influence this perception within the target population. Therefore, the main focus of this review is to provide an overview of the relevant individual differences likely to influence mouthfeel perception (specifically mouthdrying) from whey protein-fortified products, thereby enabling the future design of such products to incorporate better the needs of older adults and improve their nutritional status. This review concludes that age and individual differences are likely to influence mouthdrying sensations from whey protein-fortified products. Future research should focus more on the target population and individual differences to maximise the benefits from whey protein fortification.

Keywords: individual differences; mouthdrying; older adults; protein-fortified products; whey protein.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Commonly used strategies to improve nutritional intake in older adults at risk of malnutrition (adapted from [12]).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of whey protein typical percentage composition [76] (minor components of whey protein are bovine serum albumin (BSA), immunoglobulins, lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proposed mucoadhesion mechanism of neutral pH whey protein beverages (WPB) [89,128,134,136,138,144,147].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Saliva flow contribution from salivary glands [191].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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