Consumer study and sensorial evaluation of a newly developed spicy strawberry syrup

The potential beneficial effects of strawberry allied to those of chilly in many aspects of human health lead to the development of a spicy strawberry syrup. The work included the development of the product, including formulation, processing and industrialization aspects, chemical and sensorial analyses as well as a consumer study, of which some will be analysed in the present manuscript. The sensorial evaluation was performed with a panel of 25 tasters, of which 17 were women and 8 men. The parameters evaluated using a hedonic scale were: visual aspect, colour, consistence, brightness, sweetness, strawberry taste, spicy taste, global appreciation. To characterization of the product a brief chemical analysis was made. The mineral content was determined by calcination at 550 ºC, the total soluble solids (mainly sugars) were determined by refractometry and the moisture by a halogen moisture analyser. In all characteristics evaluated in the sensorial analysis the medium punctuation was 4 (in a scale from 0 to 5), corresponding to Good. Despite the product being considered quite spicy, its acceptance was very good.