Effect of sweetener type and of sweetener and acid levels on temporal perception of sweetness, sourness and fruitiness

Sweetness, sourness and fruitiness of 18 orange-flavored solutions,with three levels of citric acid (0.75, 1.5, 2.25 g/1) and threeequi-sweet levels of either sucrose (80, 100, 120 g/l) or aspartame(0.6, 0.7, 0.8 g/l), were evaluated by time–intensitymethodology. At these concentrations, a larger range in sournessintensity than in sweetness was produced, resulting in greatersuppression of sweetness by increasing acid levels than of sournessby increasing sweetener levels. Although aspartame samples hada longer duration of sweetness and fruitiness, sucrose and aspartamedid not interact differently with the sourness of citric acid.Fruitiness intensity and duration was enhanced by both sweetnessand sourness, but to a greater extent by sourness. Whether thisenhancement is attributable to a cognitive association of sweetnessor sourness with fruitiness or is due to the inability of thesubjects to separate sweet and sour tastes from orally perceivedfruity flavor cannot be concluded from this study.