The effect of sweeteners on fruit flavor perception was studied through the use of fruitiness power functions for unsweetened and sweetened model systems. In the first part of the study, two isosweet concentrations of aspartame and sucrose were determined and combined with five concentrations of orange and strawberry flavorants. Fruitiness power functions were developed and compared to determine the effect of each sweetener on the fruit flavor. For the second part of the study in the first experiment, one isosweet concentration of sucrose, aspartame, acesulfame-K and 1:1 blended APM/Ace-K was combined with five concentrations of each of three orange flavorants. Fruitiness power functions were developed and compared to determine how each sweetener effected the fruit flavor of each flavorant. The second experiment addressed the question of whether or not subjects associated sweet taste with fruitiness or if there was an actual change in the volatile composition of the aroma between the unsweetened reference and the sweetened solutions. Fruit aroma of the middle concentration of each flavorant sweetened with the four sweeteners was compared to the corresponding unsweetened reference. Enhancement of fruitiness was observed in the aspartame sweetened systems at low flavor levels. The power function slopes of both flavorants were lowered by the addition of aspartame which resulted in a slower rate of growth in fruitiness perception with the addition of flavorant to the system. In both the orange and strawberry flavored systems the aspartame sweetened solutions were rated higher in fruitiness than the sucrose sweetened solutions. The enhancement was more pronounced in the orange flavored system, suggesting a flavorant effect. The sweeteners affected the fruitiness perception of the three orange flavorants in different magnitudes but the patterns were similar. The three fruitiness slopes were all lowered by the addition of each sweetener. Flavor enhancement was greatest in flavor 1 sweetened with aspartame or aspartame/acesulfame-K. The higher relative placement and low slope of the fruitiness power functions in aspartame sweetened systems caused the enhancement effect to be greatest over the lower concentrations of each flavorant. In the second experiment, the fruit aroma of aspartame sweetened solutions in flavor 1 was significantly higher than the other sweetened solutions. The fruit aroma of the second and third flavorants was not significantly changed by the sweeteners. / Graduation date: 1992

Graduation date: 2004