Ingredient and Salinity Variations in Doenjang Stews Sold in a College Town and Consumer Acceptance of Doenjang Stews among Korean College Students

Abstract

This study determined the ingredient and salinity variations in Doenjang stew sold near a college campus and determined its consumer acceptance with varying salinity levels. Doenjang stews from four restaurants near a college campus were collected around lunchtime for 3 days. The salinity and weight of each ingredient included in Doenjang stews were recorded. Consumer acceptance testing on the stews was also conducted (n=98). Overall, variations in Doenjang stew recipes, including salinity values and the weight of each ingredient, between and within restaurants were also observed (P< 0.05). The salinity of Doenjang stews collected from different restaurants ranged between 1.2% and 1.7%, higher than that recommended by the Korean government. Doenjang stew with a salinity of greater than 1.3% was most liked by consumers, whereas a salinity of 1.2% was least liked. At the same salinity value, a high stock amount of Doenjang stew was preferred to a greater extent than that with a high number of ingredients in Doenjang stew, suggesting that various ingredients included in the recipe do not necessarily increase consumer acceptance of stew.

Influence of testing environment on consumer liking of doenjang stew

“…This may have contributed to the increase in appearance‐related attribute likings of the participants. A previous study has also reported that serving containers can influence the appearance‐related liking attributes of doenjang stew: The appearance liking score increases when doenjang stew is presented in everyday containers such as soup bowls and earthen pots rather than disposable containers (Hwang & Kim, 2022a, 2022b). Similar to the results in their study, the appearance‐related liking scores under HUT3 were increased, where cooking and serving was ad librium, meaning that participants had free access to doenjang stew during HUT3 evaluation including consumption quantity.…”

“…However, the HUT2 conditions exhibited a higher liking in ingredient appearance liking. A previous study has reported that consumers prefer doenjang stew with more stock than doenjang stew with more ingredients (Hwang & Kim, 2022a, 2022b). The doenjang stew provided under HUT2 corresponded to one serving size, which is more than that under HUT1, and ingredient appearance liking possibly increased due to the inclusion of more stock in the serving container under HUT2 than that under HUT1.…”

“…Four conditions were examined in this study: One CLT and three HUT conditions. Doenjang was prepared as “ doenjang stew” following the recipe suggested in Table 1, and this stew recipe was based on a study reported previously by our group (Hwang & Kim, 2022a, 2022b; Kye, Moon, Yum, Song, & Lee, 1995). The testing environment of the doenjang stew sample was the main variable in this experiment.…”

“…These sample presentation methods during consumer acceptance testing provide a controlled environment, permitting consumers to evaluate products under the same evaluation conditions. However, evaluation under controlled conditions does not always reflect real‐life consumption scenarios, wherein doenjang is cooked using different ingredients and served in different serving containers, such as ttukbaegi and a melamine bowl (Hwang & Kim, 2022a, 2022b). In the case of doenjang , typical consumption scenarios involve a series of cooking processes rather than eating the raw material.…”