Texture Perceived on Inulin‐enriched Low‐fat Semisolid Dairy Desserts. Rheological and Structural Basis

The aim of the present work is to study whether the perceived texture of low‐fat dairy desserts with inulin of different average chain lengths, can be explained by the rheological parameters and by structural characteristics. Creaminess, roughness and mouth coating of low‐fat samples with short‐chain or native inulin added, did not differ in the intensity of these attributes with respect to whole‐milk sample, although their visual consistency and thickness were perceived as significantly lower of that of whole‐milk sample. The addition of long‐chain inulin gives rise to a low‐fat product with the same thickness intensity as the full‐fat sample, though less creamy, rougher and with more mouth coating. Both flow and viscoelastic rheological indices values were related with differences in thickness observed among samples, but not with the variation in creaminess or roughness. The latter attributes could be explained by the presence of the inulin aggregates observed by microstructure analysis and detected by particle size distribution measurements. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Although mechanical and rheological properties are the predominant stimuli affecting texture perception in most foods, to match the rheological behavior of different samples does not guarantee matching the texture perceived. The aim of this work was to explain differences on the perceived texture of starch‐based dairy desserts with inulin of different average chain lengths added. The results have shown that although rheological data were able to explain the differences in thickness perceived, structural information is needed to understand differences in creaminess and roughness.