Basic Taste Threshold and Preferences in Food Matrices by Multicultural Approach in Indonesia

Abstract

Taste is the most important parameter for food acceptance. Each of the basic tastes; sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami, has its minimum concentration to be detected or identified by human senses, called threshold. Cross-cultural studies showed that eating habit was one of the factors that affect taste threshold and preference of food, associated with taste intensity in the food. Indonesia is an archipelagic country with multiethnic citizens with more than 740 ethnic groups. Each ethnic group has its unique food taste and eating habits. Bogor Agricultural University as one of the best university in Indonesia could be a good representative of Indonesian multiethnicity. First year undergraduate students are good representatives. They have lived in Bogor for a short time, thus it can be assumed that their eating habit based on ethnicity still remains. The aim of this study was to evaluate taste threshold of three basic tastes (sweet, bitter, and salty) and preference in food matrices (tea, coffee, and vegetable soup broth) of three ethnic groups in Indonesia. The other aims were to evaluate the influence of gender to taste threshold and preference in Indonesia and to evaluate the correlation between taste threshold and its preference in food matrices. This study was conducted in four stages: (1) preliminary study to determine concentration series of taste threshold and preference tests, (2) panelist recruitment, (3) evaluation of taste threshold and preferences in food matrices, and (4) data analysis. The panelists were first year undergraduate students in Bogor Agricultural University recruited from regional student organizations of three ethnic groups: Minangese, Javanese, and Nusa Tenggara. Recruitment criterias are age (17-25 years old) and having lived in the area of ethnic origin for 10 years minimum. Each ethnic group was represented by 30 panelists, with the proportion 60:40 for female and male. Sensory tests were conducted in Food Sensory Analysis Laboratory, SEAFAST Center, in individual booths on room temperature (25oC). Taste threshold determination was conducted by using three-alternative force choice (3-AFC) ascending concentration series method of limits (ASTM E679), while preference test was conducted using Rank-Rating method. Data analysis were using Microsoft Excel for Windows 2007 and SPSS 20. Analysis of questionnaire data showed that umami and sweet taste were dominantly found in Minangese, Javanese, and Nusa Tenggara foods. Minangese foods were uniquely dominant in spicy taste. The beverages from three ethnic groups were dominant in sweet taste. The average of sweet taste threshold of Indonesian was 6.027 mM of sucrose, 0.713 mM of caffeine for bitter taste, and 1.982 mM of NaCl for salty taste. Minangese had the highest threshold for sweet taste (8.139 mM of sucrose) and bitter taste (0.770 mM of caffeine). Javanese had the highest threshold of salty taste (2.177 mM of NaCl). Panelists from Nusa Tenggara had the lowest threshold of all tastes (4.070 mM of sucrose, 0.671 mM of caffeine, and 1.895 mM of NaCl). Statistical analysis showed that ethnic groups have significantly affected sweet taste threshold (p=0.034) between Nusa Tenggara and Minangese. Gender differences showed that female panelists had lower threshold of all tastes. Statistical analyses of threshold differences between genders resulted that gender difference only affected threshold of salty taste significantly. Evaluation of basic tastes preference in food matrices of three ethnic groups in Indonesia) showed that all of the three ethnic groups had similar pattern of preference of sweetness and bitterness in food matrices. The panelists tend to prefer sweeter tea and low concentration of coffee powder in coffee beverage. The maximum hedonic score was given to the tea with 12.5% of sugar concentration and coffee beverages with 1.07% of coffee powder concentration. Statistical analysis resulted that ethnic groups have significantly affected preference of bitter taste in coffee beverages (p=0.031), especially between Nusa Tenggara and Javanese. The preference of saltiness in soup varied with unclear pattern. This might be caused by the different sample presentation from the normal consumption condition. Gender differences showed that female panelists tend to prefer sweeter tea, while male panelists tend to prefer more bitter coffee. Nevertheless, statistical analyses resulted that there were no significant differences of all basic taste preference in food matrices between genders. The analysis of correlation showed that all basic tastes threshold had low correlation score with the preference in food matrices. There might be no correlation between taste threshold and the preference in food matrices. In this study, the identification was just about the dominant taste but not the intensity of each taste in food and beverages. Therefore, the effect of eating habits on taste threshold and preference could not be estimated.