Acoustic Tribology Validation Study

Validation Study to Evaluate the Use of Acoustic Tribology to Assess Mouthfeel of Dairy Drinks

Dairy-based beverages contain fat and sugars. As both contribute to the energy intake upon consumption, food industry strives to reduce these ingredients while maintaining the taste, texture and aroma properties of the beverages. A successful reduction of fat and sugar from drinks has still proven a great challenge since consumers have less preference for the mouth feel of reformulated beverages than for the regular beverages. Mainly because instrumental measures like rheology and traditional tribology do not entirely predict the experienced mouth feel, there is an interest in alternative correlates for mouth feel aspects related to fat and sugar perception. In a recent study it was demonstrated that vibrations produced during interaction between the tongue, palate and beverages during consumption are very sensitive to the amount of fat and texturizers in the beverage. The present study aims at clarifying that relation for a larger panel of human subjects, by systematically evaluating vibration spectra during consumption of dairy beverages that differ in fat content, sugar content or pH. Secondly, the correlation of vibration spectra (acoustic tribology) with mouth feel-related sensory properties and composition of fat deposits on the tongue will be assessed.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mouth Feel in Relation to Food Preference and Energy Intake

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 17

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Netherlands
  • Ede, Netherlands, 6718 ZB
    • NIZO food research

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

16 volunteers from the local general population

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18-65 years
• Healthy set of teeth
• Ability to work with sensory descriptors for dairy products.
• Able to produce an acoustic signal that is larger than the background signal
• Voluntary participation
• Having given written informed consent
• Willing to comply with study procedures
• Willing to accept use of all encoded data, including publication, and the confidential use and storage of all data
• Willing to accept disclosure of the financial benefit of participation in the study to the authorities concerned

Exclusion Criteria:

• Wearing dentures
• Inability to comply with instructions for acoustic tribology
• A self-reported food allergy or sensitivity for ingredients of the test products

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Powers in segments of time-frequency transferred vibration data	Spectral powers of acoustic signals (in V^2/s) produced by tongue-palate interactions during consumption of various foods in the bands 60-300Hz and 400-2000Hz.	between 2s and 20s after consumption of each sip
Ratios of powers in segments of time-frequency transferred vibration data	Ratios of spectral powers in the 400-2000Hz band over powers in the 60-300Hz band of acoustic signals produced by tongue-palate interactions during consumption of various foods (unit-free).	2-20 seconds after consumption of each sip

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reported rating of product thickness	Evaluation of product thickness on a Visual Analogue Scale (mm distance from the lower anchor)	0-2 sec after consumption of each sip
Relative fat content in the collected tongue coating	percentage of fat encountered in tongue coating that was collected with a swab immediately after consumption	2-20 sec after consumption of each sip
Reported rating of product Creaminess	Evaluation of product creaminess on a Visual Analogue Scale (mm distance from the lower anchor)	0-2 sec after consumption of each sip
Reported rating of product Roughness	Evaluation of product roughness on a Visual Analogue Scale (mm distance from the lower anchor)	0-2 sec after consumption of each sip
Relative sugar content in the collected tongue coating	percentage of sugars encountered in tongue coating that was collected with a swab immediately after consumption	2-20 seconds after bite consumption
Relative protein content in the collected tongue coating	percentage of protein encountered in tongue coating that was collected with a swab immediately after consumption	2-20 seconds after bite consumption

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NIZO Food Research
• Collaborators: Top Institute Food and Nutrition
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Harold Bult, PhD, NIZO food research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 16, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): September 19, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 16, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 13, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mouth feel; acoustic tribology; vibration spectrum; sensory perception
• Other Study ID Numbers: NIZO 105356