Perceived eating difficulties and preferences for various textures of raw and cooked carrots in young and elderly subjects

Muscle strength deteriorates with age which may make some foods troublesome to eat for the elderly. The aim of the study was to determine how those texture attributes that elderly people find difficult to eat are related to their preferences for carrot samples. The texture of carrot samples was manipulated using different preparation and cooking methods. Trained sensory panels in both Finland and UK described sensory profiles of a range of carrot samples with same glossary of texture terms. Based on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), boiled and pureed samples were perceived as soft, wet, pulpy and smooth, whereas raw samples were dry, brittle, rough, crispy and crunchy. Two age groups were used for the consumer tests: a young adult group (n=85) aged 23 to 40 years, mean 32 (Finland) and 33 (UK) and an elderly group (n=86) aged over 60 years, mean 75 (Finland) and 76 (UK). Both the elderly and young adult respondents considered samples as difficult to eat if they required a long chewing time, were crunchy, hard, brittle, dry, rough or sharp, such as raw slices and coarsely grated samples. On the other hand, slimy, wet, smooth, soft and pulpy samples, such as boiled carrots and puree, were considered as easy-to-eat. The young adults liked more difficult textures such as rough, crispy, crunchy and hard than did the elderly respondents, but the easiest textures were not liked by either age group. Subjects with dental deficiencies liked easier textures more than those fully dentate. Acknowledgements: This study is part of the HealthSense project supported by the European Commission Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources, Fifth Framework Programme QLK1-CT-1999-00010, and belongs to the Tailored Technologies for Future Foods (TTFF) -programme at VTT Biotechnology.