Dishes Adapted to Dysphagia: Sensory Characteristics and Their Relationship to Hedonic Acceptance

Abstract

Dishes whose texture has been modified for dysphagia undergo changes in other sensory characteristics as well. Therefore, it is necessary to identify these characteristics in adapted dishes and their relationship to hedonic acceptance. In the present work, the sensory characteristics of five dishes adapted to dysphagia associated with cerebral palsy were investigated using the check-all-that-apply method. A hedonic evaluation with a panel of non-dysphagic judges was performed to relate the degree of acceptance with the sensory characteristics of the adapted dishes. The identification of the original non-adapted dish as well as the relationship between the hedonic evaluation by non-dysphagic judges and dysphagic judges were explored. The main attributes of the dishes adapted to dysphagia were “homogeneity” and “easy-to-swallow”. Attributes that increased the hedonic evaluation were “flavorful”, “flavor of the original dish”, “soft texture”, “easy-to-swallow”, and “odor of the original dish”. The attributes that decreased the hedonic evaluation were “thick mash” and “bland”. The fish dish was the only one correctly identified more than 62.5% of the time. The adapted dishes received scores above 4.7 out of 9.0 in the hedonic evaluation. The most accepted dishes were the chicken stew and the chickpea stew. Except for the pasta dish, the test yielded similar results to those obtained with dysphagic judges. The texture-modified dishes were correctly characterized and accepted. This study shows that all the sensory characteristics of the adapted dishes are crucial for acceptance and identification.

Modifying Puree Meals in Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Multi-Centre Feasibility and Acceptability Study

“…This is especially necessary as dysphagia awareness increases globally, and systems such as the IDDSI are suggested to modify regional foods and drinks that may not be comparable to how the system was first designed [ 29 ]. The addition of rheological and sensory analysis of food will likely provide insights into how and why certain textures are suited to those experiencing dysphagia [ 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”

Instrumental and sensory techniques to characterize the texture of foods suitable for dysphagic people: A systematic review

“…Most of the included publications were based on descriptive sensory analysis, highlighting QDA ® (Baert et al., 2021; Mann & Wong, 1996; Wendin et al., 2010). Other methods such as Free Choice Profiling (Baert et al., 2021), Projective Mapping (Field et al., 2017), and CATA (Merino et al., 2021) were used to select descriptors for a posterior descriptive analysis or to characterize the TMFs. Also, other methods such as the Temporal Dominance Sensations (TDS) and Temporal Check‐All‐That‐Apply (TCATA) (Sharma & Duizer, 2019) begin to be used for the characterization of food for dysphagia during the complete swallowing process.…”

“…These authors concluded that products suitable for dysphagia should have low firmness intensities (between 1 and 2 in a 1‐ to 5‐point scale), medium‐high in cohesiveness (3–4.5/5), high fluidity (4–5/5), and very low residue and stickiness (1–1.5/5). The five TMFs were also evaluated with a panel of untrained assessors using the CATA method (Merino et al., 2021).…”

“…Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA ® ) with trained assessors has been applied to evaluate beverages with three commercial thickeners (Chambers et al., 2017). Qualitative analysis such as the Check‐All‐That‐Apply (CATA) method with untrained assessors has been used to identify and characterize home‐made dishes oriented to OD (Merino et al., 2021). Finally, the combination of instrumental and sensory methods has been proposed to generate new knowledge about the texture of foods oriented to the OD (Guénard‐Lampron et al., 2021).…”

Texture-Modified Food for Dysphagic Patients: A Comprehensive Review

“…Ohmic heating was utilized to improve and preserve the main properties of purées. Antioxidant activity has also increased with ohmic heating, up to 58% compared to the control sample [ 137 ]. The study shows the potential of this treatment for ready-to-eat courgettes as food that can be developed for dysphagic patients.…”