Consumer Acceptance and Quality Attributes of Flaxseed Enhanced Cheese Sauce

Abstract

Growing interest and knowledge on the health benefits provided by omega-3 fatty acids prompted a cheese sauce to be developed which was nutritionally enhanced by the incorporation of omega-3 fatty acids from whole and ground flaxseeds. This study was designed to measure the quality attributes and to understand the consumer perceptions of cheese flavor, overall acceptance and their attitudes towards the intent to purchase a flaxseed incorporated cheese sauce. The main quality attributes analyzed for in three samples were the moisture content, water activity, pH measurement and viscosity. From the results, water activity and pH of each cheese sauce sample showed no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). Whole flaxseed cheese sauce had a low moisture content compared to other samples, and ground flaxseed cheese sauce showed significantly lower viscosity among the samples. For the sensory taste test a total of 101 untrained panelists rated ground flaxseed consistently least liked for attributes such as flavor, mouth coating, appearance and intent to purchase. However, for attributes such as texture and aftertaste there was no significant difference among the samples (p>0.05). Whole flaxseed cheese sauce was determined to be the most likely to purchase sample followed by control, and ground flaxseed cheese sauce.