The overall aim of this study was to investigate the culinary practices of Basotho with regard to traditional bread, to characterise breads and to apply the cultural hedonic framework to describe consumers’ perceptions about the acceptance of traditional Basotho breads. The culinary practices of Basotho have been transferred from one generation to the other without or with very limited documentation. The only sourced information was a research done by Ashton in 1939. The knowledge of traditional bread preparation and its acceptance by Basotho consumers is currently limited. Food practices are embedded in culture and every culture has specifications pointing to the hedonic characteristics of food such as taste, appearance, flavour and aroma, which are determined by the context in which the food is selected or consumed. It was important to understand the cultural hedonic framework underlying Basotho bread acceptance. The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. Food acceptance and cultural hedonic framework theories were used to explore the reasons underlying the choice of bread. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative techniques of collecting data in the three phases. Data related to culinary practices was collected by a structured questionnaire and focus groups in phase 1. Phase 2 was the standardisation of recipes obtained in phase 1. The standardised breads were characterised in phase 3 by describing selected physico–chemical and sensory characteristics of dough and breads. The responses to the questionnaire and descriptive sensory evaluation were statistically analysed and the grounded theory approach was used to analyse data from focus groups. Ten Basotho breads prepared from wheat, maize and sorghum were identified in both rural and urban areas of Lesotho. Preparation of traditional Basotho breads involves preparation of grains (washing, sorting, soaking, dehulling, dry milling and wet milling), mixing/kneading, fermentation and cooking. Steaming method is applied to all breads, but baking and pot-roasting are used for wheat breads only. Younger participants were less familiar with maize and sorghum breads than they were with wheat breads. Unfamiliarity with the sensory attributes of these products, contributed to their lower acceptance. The older participants were familiar with all traditional breads and valued them for use in the important Basotho cultural ceremonies. The movement from the rural areas to urban areas has also changed the traditional bread practices to modern westernised ways. This therefore placed Lesotho into both higher and lower cultural hedonic context such that rural and old people are higher context cultures and urban and younger people are lower context cultures. The type of grain flour used influenced the sensory characteristics of breads. Red sorghum breads reflected dark red crumb and white maize breads reflected white crumb. Fine flour produced lighter breads than coarse flour of the same cereal type. Non-wheat breads were more crumbly, hard and fibrous than wheat breads. The instrumental texture analysis showed plastic deformation for wheat breads, brittle deformation for non-wheat breads and elastic deformation for standard breads. It is recommended that more attention be given to the development, standardisation and improvement of traditional bread recipes in order to produce bread with acceptable sensory attributes. The findings of this study help to understand and interpret the overall scope of Basotho attitude towards breads for the maximum utilisation of local grains in Lesotho. The study adds the Basotho perspective of cultural food acceptance to the excisting global knowledge of food choice regarding traditional food products. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Consumer Science / PhD / Unrestricted

The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1. to determine whether or not certain poster presentations affect the food acceptance of elementary school children, and 2. to determine which method of presenting a poster had the most affect upon the child's food acceptance.

Planned on the realization that teen-agers have a strong influence on younger children, this experiment proposes to use high school girls to assist with a foods unit developed by the use of films and designed to improve food acceptance and reduce plate waste in some of the elementary grades.

<p>In order to study the <i>effect of production systems</i> aimed at sustainability<i> on product quality</i> and of sensory and non-sensory factors on product acceptance – the effect of farming system, year, milling and baking techniques on the sensory qualities of wheat bread as a model product was investigated using a descriptive test, and the effect of information and values on liking of bread using consumer tests.</p><p>Whole wheat and white breads were baked with wheat grown in six lots in established conventional and organic farming systems in field trails, in two subsequent years for the white bread.</p><p><i>Milling technique</i> influenced flours’ rheology and had greater impact on the sensory qualities of whole wheat bread and on the slice area than did <i>farming system</i> and <i>baking technique</i>. Bread baked with roller-milled wheat was characterized by sweetness, juiciness, compactness and smaller slice area than bread baked with stone-milled wheat, which was characterized by saltiness, deformity and roasted cereals.</p><p>The <i>effect of year </i>on the white bread was greater than the effect of <i>farming system </i>or <i>recipe modification</i>. Bread baked with wheat harvested in 1999 had significantly lower intensities of crumb attributes such as smoothness, juiciness and elasticity, but higher rancid flavour, springiness, compressibility, mastication resistance than bread baked with wheat harvested in 2000. Bread baked with conventional flour had significantly higher juiciness and elasticity than organic bread.</p><p>Image analysis did not show differences in slice area between bread baked with conventionally and organically grown wheat harvested in 1999 compared with 2000. <i>Information</i> affected liking in relation to the type of provided information. Information on organic origin enhanced most liking of bread, particularly for the less liked samples and frequent consumers of organic food. Significantly different <i>values</i> and different specific liking of breads were found among consumer segments. Results linked values and age with “taste”.</p>

In order to study the effect of production systems aimed at sustainability on product quality and of sensory and non-sensory factors on product acceptance – the effect of farming system, year, milling and baking techniques on the sensory qualities of wheat bread as a model product was investigated using a descriptive test, and the effect of information and values on liking of bread using consumer tests. Whole wheat and white breads were baked with wheat grown in six lots in established conventional and organic farming systems in field trails, in two subsequent years for the white bread. Milling technique influenced flours’ rheology and had greater impact on the sensory qualities of whole wheat bread and on the slice area than did farming system and baking technique. Bread baked with roller-milled wheat was characterized by sweetness, juiciness, compactness and smaller slice area than bread baked with stone-milled wheat, which was characterized by saltiness, deformity and roasted cereals. The effect of year on the white bread was greater than the effect of farming system or recipe modification. Bread baked with wheat harvested in 1999 had significantly lower intensities of crumb attributes such as smoothness, juiciness and elasticity, but higher rancid flavour, springiness, compressibility, mastication resistance than bread baked with wheat harvested in 2000. Bread baked with conventional flour had significantly higher juiciness and elasticity than organic bread. Image analysis did not show differences in slice area between bread baked with conventionally and organically grown wheat harvested in 1999 compared with 2000. Information affected liking in relation to the type of provided information. Information on organic origin enhanced most liking of bread, particularly for the less liked samples and frequent consumers of organic food. Significantly different values and different specific liking of breads were found among consumer segments. Results linked values and age with “taste”.