MSI Funded Study: Consumer Acceptance Comparison Between Seasoned and Unseasoned Vegetables

Feng, Y., Albiol Tapia, M., Okada, K., Castaneda Lazo, N. B., Chapman-Novakofski, K., Phillips, C. and Lee, S.-Y.

Overview

Recent findings show that approximately 87% of the U.S. population fail to meet the vegetable intake recommendations, with unpleasant taste of vegetables being listed as the primary reason for this shortfall. In this study, spice and herb seasoning was used to enhance palatability of vegetables, in order to increase consumer acceptance.

Methods

In total, 749 panelists were screened and recruited as specific vegetable likers of the vegetable being tested or general vegetable likers. Four sessions were designed to evaluate the effect of seasoning within each type of vegetable, including broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, and green bean. Each panelist was only allowed to participate in one test session to evaluate only one vegetable type, so as to mitigate potential learning effect.

Results/Conclusions

Overall, the results showed that seasoned vegetables were significantly preferred over unseasoned vegetables (P < 0.001), indicating the sensory properties were significantly improved with seasoning. When general vegetable likers and specific vegetable likers were compared in terms of their preference between seasoned and unseasoned vegetables, the pattern varied across different vegetables; however, general trend of seasoned vegetable being preferred remained.

The findings from this study demonstrate the effect of seasoning in enhancing consumer liking of vegetables, which may lead to increased consumption to be assessed in future studies.