Food Sensory Properties and the Older Adult

Abstract

Older adults represent a large and growing portion of the global population. Given the high risk of malnutrition in this population, it is important to understand factors influencing food intake; sensory perception is one of these factors. Aging is associated with a number of physiological changes that alter the way food sensory properties are perceived. Because of these changes, it is often assumed that older adults experience a decrease in food liking. Although there is little evidence to support this assumption, many studies have evaluated flavor enhancement strategies aiming to increase food liking in older adults. As older adults exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity in their liking response, more tailored approaches may be required to increase food liking in older adult populations. Current attempts to classify subgroups of older adults have had little success. Furthermore, consideration should be given to food texture in future studies, as it plays a dominant and increasingly vital role in food perception by older adults. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSSensory perception plays an important role in food choice and intake, thus it is important to understand how foods are perceived by older adults. This is essential to the health and well-being of older adults, as the reduction in food intake often observed with ageing is a key contributor to malnutrition in this population. The success of studies aiming to improve food liking in older adults have had very limited success to date, with some strategies actually leadings to a reduction in food consumption. To improve the success of future strategies, food perception by older adults, and the increasingly vital role of food texture must be understood.

Protein for Community-Dwelling Older People: Aspects That Influence the Perception of Commercially Available Protein Drinks

“…One aspect that is continually mentioned in the literature is the heterogeneity in older people due to their long and different life experiences ( 39 – 41 ). With regard to our study, a significant differentiated perception within the target group was not observable.…”

Recent progress in the use of functional foods for older adults: A narrative review

“…The perception of taste, thirst, and smell declines and might directly influence eating behavior. Decline in the number of taste buds and a subsequent taste dysfunction are associated with diseases such as Alzheimer disease, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders (Hummel, Landis, & Hüttenbrink, ), several medications such as some antibiotics (Schiffman, ), and nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin B6 and zinc deficiency (Feng, Huang, & Wang, ; Field & Duizer, ). The greatest taste and smell loss were confirmed in medicated older individuals who consumed the largest number of drugs (Schiffman, ).…”

Exquisitely heterogeneous : Combining different food textures to boost palatability

“…These differences between young adults and elderly in oral processing behaviour may be explained by physiological changes related to ageing such as the decrease of density of the mastication muscles and consequently the weakening of bite force. This reduction of bite force induces the subject to increase the number of chews and the consumption time until the bolus reaches a swallowable consistency (Field & Duizer, 2016;Ketel et al, 2019;Kohyama et al, 2002;Mishellany-Dutour et al, 2008). It should be noted that the young adult and elderly consumers were healthy and had good dental status with a maximum of two missing teeth or implants.…”

“…In that study, elderly participants required a significantly longer consumption time and higher number of chews for solid products than young participants. In both cases, these variations caused by ageing can be explained by a decrease in bite force due to the reduction of density of the mastication muscles and related chewing compensation to obtain a bolus consistency that is safe to swallow (Field & Duizer, 2016;Mishellany-Dutour et al, 2008).…”