Mapping Consumer Preference for Vegan and Omnivorous Diets for the Sensory Attributes of Flour Products with Iodine-Fortified Plant-Based Ingredients

Abstract

Objectives: Flour products with iodine-fortified dried vegetables can be a good source of iodine. However, in addition to iodine stability, the sensory quality of these products is also important. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of adding iodine-fortified dried vegetables to flour products (gnocchi and ciabatta) on their sensory quality and map consumers (vegan/omnivore diets) as potential consumers of fortified flour products with iodine-fortified dried vegetables.

Methods: A quantitative analysis of the sensory desirability and profiling were used to achieve the work objective.

Results: It was confirmed that there was no relationship between the form of iodine (without iodine/KIO₃/KI) and the intensity of all definite descriptors of colour, aroma, and taste. We also confirmed the relationship between the vegetable type and the descriptors' intensity. It was confirmed that the positive attribute with the highest impact was the pumpkin taste, and the attribute with the most negative impact was the cauliflower aroma. This was true for consumers on vegan and omnivore diets, and they confirmed the most positive attitude toward the taste of pumpkin.

Conclusions: Introducing dried iodine-fortified vegetables (gnocchi dumplings 24%; ciabatta rolls 5%) allows for the high sensory desirability of designed products. Introduced iodine (gnocchi dumplings 30 mg I/100 g; ciabatta rolls 9-11 mg I/100 g) does not change products' sensory profiles.

Keywords: consumer analysis; flour products; food fortification; omnivore diet; sensory analysis; vegan diet; vegetables.

Figure 1

Box plot diagram of sensory profiles (colour, aroma, taste) of gnocchi dumplings (a) and ciabatta rolls (b) with the addition of iodine-fortified dried vegetables (carrot, pumpkin, cauliflower, beetroot, broccoli) and the control sample (without vegetable and iodine).

Figure 2

Map of the variants of gnocchi dumplings (I) and ciabatta rolls (II) with the addition of iodine-fortified dried vegetables (carrot (A), pumpkin (B), cauliflower (C), beetroot (D), broccoli (E)) and the control sample (without vegetable (O) and iodine (o)) into factors (F1 × F2). Case–factor coordinate plots based on the attributes of (a) colour profiles, (b) aroma profiles, and (c) taste profiles (PCA analysis).

Figure 3

Box plot diagram of consumer desirability (colour, aroma, taste, and overall) of gnocchi dumplings and ciabatta rolls with iodine-fortified dried vegetables among consumers of vegan and omnivore diets.