Volatile Composition and Sensory Attributes of Smoothies Based on Pomegranate Juice and Mediterranean Fruit Purées (Fig, Jujube and Quince)

Abstract

To increase the intake of fruits and vegetables—especially among young people—the food industry is trying to develop new, easy-to-eat and long-shelf-life products, such as smoothies. Nowadays, consumers are choosing their foods based not only on nutritional/functional properties (content of polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, among others), but also on sensory attributes. The aim of this study was to investigate the volatile composition by HS-SPME and the sensory profile by descriptive sensory analysis of novel smoothies prepared by blending fig, jujube or quince purée with pomegranate juices (cv. Mollar de Elche or Wonderful) at two ratios purée:juice (40:60 or 60:40). Twenty-three volatile compounds were identified by GC-MS and classified as alcohols, aldehydes, esters, furans, ketones, terpenes and terpenoids. Among volatile compounds, the five predominant ones in the studied smoothies were: (i) 5-HMF (30.6%); (ii) 3-hexen-1-ol (9.87%); (iii) hexanal (9.43%); (iv) 1-hexanol (8.54%); and (v) 3-octanone (7.67%). Fig smoothies were sweet and had flavor and volatiles related to fig, pomegranate, and grape. While jujube products were bitter and had jujube and pear notes. Finally, quince smoothies were consistent, sour and had quince, apple and floral notes. Thus, the type of fruit purée used clearly determined the flavor of the final product. The smoothies prepared with Mollar de Elche pomegranate juice were characterized by having high intensity of pear odor/aroma and consistency, and the Wonderful smoothies were characterized by lower consistency and more intense pomegranate aroma and sourness.

How a Spanish Group of Millennial Generation Perceives the Commercial Novel Smoothies?

“…Eight trained panelists (aged 25 to 55 years; 4 females and 4 males) with more than 600 h of training in sensory testing from the department of Agro-Food Technology (UMH) participated in this study. The panel was selected and trained following the ISO standard 8586-1 (1993), and it is specialized in descriptive sensory evaluation of fruit products [17,[21][22][23]. For the present study, the panel worked during 2 orientation sessions (90 min for each one) discussing the main organoleptic characteristics of commercial smoothies.…”

“…For the present study, the panel worked during 2 orientation sessions (90 min for each one) discussing the main organoleptic characteristics of commercial smoothies. The lexicon used was based on the previous ones developed by other authors [17,22,[24][25][26][27] (Table 2). Lexicons were adapted for smoothies during the orientation sessions.…”

“…Samples were assessed using sensory attributes of basic tastes, flavor notes and texture and somatic sensations (n = 22), and the order process was (i) flavor notes, (ii) basic tastes, and (iii) texture and somatic sensations. References were chosen and prepared according to previous publications using similar attributes [17,22,[24][25][26][27], and then provided to panelists. The scale to be used was range from 0 (no intensity) to 10 (extremely high intensity) with 0.5 increments.…”

“…The literature shows the uniqueness of Millennials and this is why current food sensory studies are focusing on this specific population [11]. On the other hand, although sensory analysis has been previously applied to smoothies [12][13][14][15][16][17], there is a lack of information about the opinion and preference of commercial smoothies by consumers, including Millennial ones (generation Y) on smoothies; this is relevant because this generation constitutes the largest group consuming healthy minimally processed foods. In a previous consumer study, Polish consumers indicated that smoothies containing cranberry, black currant, dog rose, and bilberry purees were more acceptable than other fruits [18].…”

“…Several studies about smoothies used sensory descriptive analysis to characterize them. For instance, a recent study of different cultivars of pomegranate indicated that the smoothies prepared with Mollar de Elche pomegranate juice were characterized by having high intensity of pear odor/aroma and consistency, and the Wonderful smoothies were characterized by lower consistency and more intense pomegranate aroma and sourness [17]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine a Spanish group of Millennial consumers preference towards novel fruit and vegetable smoothies available on the retail market.…”