The success of functional foods is dependent not only on the health ingredients added, but also on consumer acceptance of the finished product, and this relies heavily on the sensory properties.

The days were healthy products were deemed unappetising are coming to an end, and food manufacturers are acutely aware of the need to make healthy products taste good.

Fortifying foods with polyphenols is limited by the inherent bitter taste of the compounds. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds with health benefits reported to range from improved cardiovascular health, to protection against certain cancers and Alzheimer's.

"A combination of [fruit flavours and cyclodextrin for suppression of bitterness] would result in a more healthy food product for consumers, as it would contain high levels of polyphenols and palatability would be achieved at lower concentrations of added sugar," wrote the authors from the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand in the Journal of Food Science.

Source: foodproductiondaily.com