Abstract

The sensory qualities related to consumer freshness perceptions are dependant on the previous
termfoodnext term considered. However, it is not clear how ingredients in combination with baked
product shelf-life influence consumer judgements of freshness. A range of model cake samples (n
= 24) were produced using a 4 × 3 × 2 factorial design, which included four different sweeteners,
three different fat types and two different times from baking. Descriptive sensory analysis was
carried out on all cake samples, using a panel of ten trained assessors and a defined vocabulary
of 31 terms. The sensory properties of cakes were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by
sweetener type, fat type and time from baking. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed
twelve cake samples with the largest sensory variation that were further selected for consumer
testing. Representative consumers (n = 120) rated the perceived freshness of the selected
samples. Consumer perceptions of freshness were significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by
sweetener type, fat type and storage. Three consumer segments that were homogenous in their
freshness perceptions were identified. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) was applied to
determine relationships between sensory descriptions of samples and consumers' freshness
perception of samples in each segment. Using PLSR models, consumer freshness perceptions
for the twelve remaining cakes not evaluated by consumers, but assessed by descriptive sensory
analysis, were predicted for each consumer segment.

Keywords: Cake ingredients; Shelf-life; Descriptive analysis; Consumer; Freshness

Article Outline

1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials
2.2. Cake preparation
2.3. Descriptive sensory analysis
2.4. Selection of samples for consumer testing
2.5. Consumer freshness testing
2.6. Data analysis

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Descriptive analysis

3.2. Cakes selection for consumer freshness testing
3.3. Consumer freshness perceptions
3.4. Modelling consumer freshness perceptions and sensory attributes
3.5. Predicting consumer freshness perceptions from descriptive sensory analysis results

4. Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References

1. Introduction
Most baked cake products are stored under ambient conditions and marketed as fresh (Smith,
Daifas, El-Khoury, Koukoutsis, & El-Khoury, 2004). From this aspect, considerable research has
studied the influence of ingredients and shelf-life on the sensory quality of baked cakes ([Bajwa et
al., 2005], [Gelinas et al., 1999], [Gomez et al., 2007] and [Lin and Lee, 2005]). In particular,
Bajwa et al. (2005) and Lin and Lee (2005) demonstrated that a difference in the textural quality
of fresh and stored cakes corresponded with consumer acceptability and liking respectively, while
Gelinas et al. (1999) revealed that sugar type, fat type, cocoa type, and the level of egg and
sodium bicarbonate influenced the degree of hardness and cohesiveness of fresh and stored
cakes. They reported that butter and sucrose, together with a combination of shortening and
glucose, were shown to reduce the degree of cake hardening and cohesiveness during storage.
More recently, Ronda, Gomez, Blanco, and Caballero (2005) studied the effects of total sucrose
replacement by bulking agents maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol, isomaltose, oligofructose and
polydextrose on the firmness of fresh and four day old sponge cakes. Substantial differences
were reported among cakes containing bulking agents and the control cake that contained
sucrose, and between fresh and stored cakes. In principal, fat and sugar are at least one of the
major ingredient components used in the preparation of cakes. Sugar not only imparts
sweetness, but contributes to the fresh flavour quality of cakes during thermal processing and
acts as a tenderiser by retarding and restricting gluten formation. In addition, fat is capable of
modifying the physical properties of cakes, affecting mouthfeel, appearance, and may act as a
flavour precursor, flavour carrier and flavour release modulator ([Gelinas et al., 1999] and [Pozo-
Bayon et al., 2006]). Ingredient functionality is difficult to assess in complex systems, such as
cakes, because several ingredients may interact and affect the sensory quality. Therefore
developing new cake formulations that are perceived as fresh and, which retain freshness during
storage is a complicated process.

It is widely known that the sensory characteristics of baked products influence consumer
freshness perceptions (Heenan, Hamid, Dufour, Harvey, & Delahunty, 2009). In addition, socio-
economic, demographic, physiological and psychological factors may influence freshness
perception. Consumers have a definite appreciation of what constitutes product freshness based
upon their individual experiences. As a consequence, individual consumers are likely to rely on
different sensory characteristics to form a judgement of freshness. The use of multivariate
techniques has made it possible to relate subjective consumer evaluations of freshness to
descriptive sensory attributes measured by a trained panel, to provide an objective understanding
of product freshness ([Peneau et al., 2007a] and [Peneau et al., 2007b]). Furthermore,
multivariate models of the relationships between consumer perceived freshness of speciality
breads (Heenan, Hamid, Dufour, Harvey, & Delahunty, 2008) and descriptive sensory data have
been applied to predict perceived freshness of commercial bread samples not evaluated by
consumers. This integrated approach provides an alternative to expensive and time dependant
consumer testing of newly developed products. To ensure ongoing consumer acceptance of
baked cakes, in particular as new product opportunities with modified composition are explored, it
is essential that manufacturers search for ways to understand and improve product perceived
freshness. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of ingredients and time
from baking on the sensory attributes and consumer freshness perceptions of cakes.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials

Cake flour, butter, sucrose, fresh eggs, baking powder and salt were purchased from the local
market. Sugar substitutes xylitol (xilisorb200) was sourced from Danisco NZ Limited, Auckland,
New Zealand, while isomaltose (Isomalt PF) and Glucose were purchased from Invita NZ Limited,
Auckland, New Zealand. Margarine (Morah Cake Continental 1575) and shortening (Hi-mix Cake
Shortening 1583) were obtained from Bakels Limited, Auckland, New Zealand.
2.2. Cake preparation

Sucrose substituted cakes were prepared by total substitution of sucrose by one of the following:
xylitol, glucose or isomaltose, whilst fat type was varied by using butter, margarine or shortening.
A full factorial design that gave four sweetener types, three fat types, and two different times from
baking was used for descriptive sensory analysis. Cake formulations are represented in Table 1.
All ingredients except for the flour, baking powder and salt were mixed for 10 min at 200 rpm
using a Kenwood (MX260 47261) mixer. Flour, baking powder and salt were sifted together and
added to the batter with subsequent mixing for 5 min. Two cakes were produced from each batch.
Approximately 350 g of cake batter was weighed into 170 mm by 75 mm base and 50 mm height
loaf tins, and baked for 35 min at 180 °C in a commercial oven (Fisher & Paykel, Titan, OS302).
Cakes that required 15 days of storage were produced in advance of sensory evaluation while
day zero cakes were produced on the morning of evaluation. For descriptive sensory analysis 12
samples were evaluated each day on four separate days. Each duplicate formulation, from four
batches, was presented over the four consecutive days (i.e. two batches each day, giving four
cakes per day). This procedure ensured that a duplicate set of cakes, each from a different batch,
would be presented on the separate days for evaluation. After baking, cakes were removed from
the tins and left for 1 h at room temperature to cool. Cakes to be stored for 15 days were placed
in foil pouches (100 μm thickness), heat sealed and stored at 21 °C with a relative humidity
of approximately 25%.
Table 1.

Cake formulations showing major ingredient components and types of sweetener and fat.
Ingredientsa Sweetener type (g) Fat type (g)
Sucrose Glucose Xylitol Isomaltose Butter Margarine
Shortening
BG – 188 – – 192 – –
BS 188 – – – 192 – –
BX – – 188 – 192 – –
BI – – – 188 192 – –
MG – 188 – – – 192 –
MS 188 – – – – 192 –
MX – – 188 – – 192 –
MI – – – 188 – 192 –
SG – 188 – – – – 192
SS 188 – – – – – 192
SX – – 188 – – – 192
SI – – – 188 – – 192
Full-size table
a Cakes formulated with different fat and sweetener types. Fat types are distinguished by: Butter
(B), Margarine (M), Shortening (S). Sweetener types were recognised by: Sucrose (S),
Isomaltose (I), Xylitol (X), Glucose (G). Constant ingredient component weights (g) are: white
flour (192), baking powder (4.8), egg (192), and salt (1.0).

View Within Article

2.3. Descriptive sensory analysis

A panel of 10 assessors (8 females, 2 males aged between 36 and 55 years) were trained for
sensory evaluation of samples (ISO 8586-2, 1994). All cakes (n = 24) were evaluated by generic
descriptive analysis in accordance to (Lawless & Heymann, 1999). Assessors developed a
descriptive vocabulary in eight-2-hour sessions (Table 2) that included appearance, odour,
flavour, texture and after-flavour. For attribute generation, all cake samples (n = 24) were
presented to assessors. The panel of assessors agreed on the attributes that differentiated the
samples, followed by consensus on the definition and relative intensity of each attribute. For
sensory evaluation, approximately 50 g of each sample (30 × 30 × 20 mm), including the crust
and crumb, was presented to assessors in a 3-digit coded glass covered with a glass lid. Odour,
flavour, texture and after-flavour measurements were obtained in individual booths under red light
at room temperature. For assessments of visual appearance samples were evaluated separately
under white light. To balance the effects of serving order and carry over, sample duplicates were
assessed on separate days and presented in accordance to a Williams Latin Square design
(MacFie & Bratchell, 1989).

Table 2.

Descriptive vocabulary and definitions used by trained assessors to evaluate cakes.

Attribute Definition
Appearance
Crust-darkness Degree of colour darkness in the crust ranging from light brown to dark brown
Crumb darkness Degree of colour darkness in the crumb ranging from white to dark brown
Porosity The extent of perforation of the bread surface, this encompassing the holes,
cracks allowing the permeation of air
Moisture The visual appearance of surface moisture

Odour
Buttery Aromatics associated with butter produced from cow's milk.
Musty The aromatics associated with wet grain and damp earth
Floury The aromatics associated with dry white flour
Eggy The aromatic associated with cooked egg
Meringue Aromatics associated with a mixture of egg whites and sugar beaten until stiff
Caramel Sweet aromatic associated with heated sugar, condensed milk, toffee, malt, and
molasses
Fatty The overall flavour impression of fat
Toasted Flavour and taste impression of bread crust and crumb after baking/heating
Rancid The aromatic associated with off or old fat
Burnt The sharp, acrid note of a product that has been over cooked

Flavour
Sweet Fundamental taste sensation of which sucrose is typical
Salty A basic taste factor of which chloride is typical
Sour A basic taste factor of which critic acid is typical
Bitter A basic taste factor of which caffeine is typical
Buttery The same as odour but perceived orally
Eggy The same as odour but perceived orally
Caramel The same as odour but perceived orally
Fruity The aromatics associated with mixed fruit typical of raisins, dates, sultans perceived
orally
Doughy The aromatics typical of raw cake batter perceived orally

Oral-texture
Hardness Force required to bite completely through sample placed between the molars
Dissolve The rate at which the sample breaks down in the mouth
Adhesiveness Force required to remove product completely from the palate, using tongue, after
compression of the sample between tongue and palate
Moisture Amount of moisture perceived on the surface of the product, when in contact with
the oral cavity
FatnessDegree of residual oiliness left on the oral cavity after swallowing the sample

After-flavour
Sweet As for flavour
Sour As for flavour
Bitter As for flavour
Full-size table

View Within Article

On each day of evaluation, assessors received a total of twelve samples in two sets of six. To
reduce the likelihood of carryover, 2 min and 15 min intervals were allowed between each sample
and each set of six samples, respectively. In addition, each assessor was provided with filtered
water and un-salted crackers and asked to cleanse their palate between tastings. Each assessor
received a list of attributes including definitions to aid them during sample evaluation. Sample
attributes were scored on unstructured 100 mm line scales anchored from low (5 mm) to high (95
mm).
2.4. Selection of samples for consumer testing
From the sample set of 24 evaluated by descriptive analysis, twelve cakes were selected in order
to conduct consumer freshness testing. Sample selection was based upon Principal Components
Analysis (PCA) of descriptive sensory data, and inspection of Principal Components (PCs) that
significantly discriminated (p < 0.05). This analysis determined which 12 cakes were best
representative of the sensory differences found among the 24 cakes. This approach assumed
that samples that were similar in sensory character would also be similar in perceived freshness.
2.5. Consumer freshness testing

Consumer freshness evaluations were conducted in individual booths at the Sensory previous
termSciencenext term Research Centre, University of Otago between the hours of 12:00 pm and
1:00 pm. Participants (n = 120) were recruited by advertising in local papers. Participants were
required to have consumed cakes during the two weeks prior, have lived in New Zealand for a
period of five years or longer, have no known allergies or intolerances, and no difficulties in
perceiving smell, taste or swallowing of previous termfoods.next term Upon completion of the
evaluation, participants were rewarded with a petrol or grocery voucher to the equivalent value of
$20.

All samples were assigned a random 3-digit code, and were presented at room temperature in
two sets of six. The order of sample presentation was balanced to account for first order and
carry-over effects (MacFie & Bratchell, 1989). Cakes were sliced into 50 g portions (30 × 30 × 20
mm) that included both the crust and the crumb. Prior to evaluating products, a text was
presented and read aloud to all participants by the investigator to create a context for
assessment. In this case the investigator read the following text: “We have invited you here today
to evaluate a selection of baked products. Your task is to judge the freshness of each product,
and indicate your decision by using the line scale provided. We are interested in your freshness
judgement of these products because some of them have been manufactured using ingredients
that contain preservatives, stabilisers and emulsifiers, whereas the remainder of the products
have been manufactured using the finest natural ingredients. The issue is whether products
produced with ingredients that contain preservatives, stabilisers and emulsifiers are less fresh
than products produced with natural ingredients. In order to find this out, we ask you to evaluate
all baked products, and judge their degree of freshness”.

The intention when creating a context in which all cakes were assessed was to focus all
participants on the concept of freshness (Heenan et al., 2008). Participants were asked to
observe, smell, taste and consume each sample. After evaluating each sample participants
judged sample freshness using a 150 mm labelled scale, which was constructed with log intervals
(0.2 log series) to separate adjective labels from “Not at all fresh” (0 mm), “Barely fresh” (10.5
mm), “Moderately fresh” (26 mm), “Very fresh” (52.5 mm), “Extremely fresh” (89 mm), and
“Greatest freshness imaginable” (150 mm). Filtered water was provided, and participants were
asked to rinse their palates between samples and break for 30 s. In addition, there was a forced 5
min interval between each set of six samples to avoid fatigue and reduce carry-over effects.
2.6. Data analysis

Differences in sensory characteristics among cake samples were tested by a three way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) with interaction using SPSS 12.0.1 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). The
dependent variable was sensory attribute, with sweetener type (i.e. sucrose, xylitol, isomaltose,
glucose), fat type (i.e. butter, margarine, shortening) and time from baking (i.e. day of baking, day
fifteen of storage) taken as fixed factors, and with assessor as a random factor. For each level of
sweetener type, fat type and time from baking, group means were compared using Post-hoc
Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) testing. To illustrate the main variation between
samples, taking account of all sensory attributes, replicate attribute scores were standardised
(1/standard deviation) and analysed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using Unscrambler
version 9.1 (CAMO, AS, N-7041, Trondheim, Norway). One-way ANOVA was carried out on PCA
scores to determine the number of PCs that significantly discriminated between the samples.

For consumer freshness testing, 12 out of the 24 cake types that represented the overall sensory
variation were selected by visual inspection of the PCA scores and correlation loadings.
Consumer freshness ratings were taken as a dependent variable in a three-way ANOVA model
with sweetener type, fat type and time from baking as fixed factors. Two PCs were used to
illustrate freshness differences between the cakes investigated. Hierarchical cluster analysis, with
squared Euclidean distance and Ward's criterion was carried out using SPSS 12.0.1 (SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, USA) to investigate the existence of consumer clusters with similar perceptions of
freshness. For separate clusters, freshness scores were analysed using Univariate ANOVA with
interaction. Consumer freshness scores were taken as the dependent variable with cakes as a
fixed factor and consumer as random factor. For each cluster, mean freshness scores were
compared using the Post-hoc Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) test. Consumer
clusters were compared in terms of demographic data by simple tabulation and a homogeneity
test using an approximate chi-square test for similarity among groups according to Helgesen,
Solheim, and Naes (1997).

External “freshness” mapping using partial least squares regression (PLSR1) was applied to
relate sensory attributes (X-data) to consumer freshness scores (Y-data), one cluster at a time.
Full cross validation was used to select the optimum number of PLS factors for predicting the Y-
data sets. For each model, regression coefficients (β-coefficients) were graphed to
determine the contribution of each X-variable in predicting Y-variables. Variables that
contributed little and/or displayed high levels of uncertainty estimates were identified
using the jack-knife method ([Martens and Martens, 2000] and [Martens et al.,
2000]). Models were recalibrated with non contributing X-variables removed and final
PLSR models were selected based on the root mean square error of prediction
(RMSEP), calibration and validation coefficients. The RMSEP represents the average
prediction error expected for new samples based on the same units of measurements
as the original response variables (freshness perceptions on a scale from 0 to 150
mm).

PLSR models were used to predict the freshness of each consumer cluster for all
cakes, including the 12 cakes that were not tasted by consumers.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Descriptive analysis

The mean intensity measurements for sensory attributes, with results of ANOVA for
different sweetener types, fat types and shelf-life, and with significant (p < 0.05)
interaction between variables, are presented in Table 3.

Table 3.

Descriptive analysis mean scores of cake samples and results from analysis of
variance (ANOVA) including Post-hoc Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD)*
testing and significant (p< 0.05) variable interaction for sweetener × fat type,
sweetener × time from baking and fat × time from baking.
Attribute Sweetener Type Fat Type Time from baking Significant
variable interaction (P-value)
Sucrose Isomaltose Xylitol Glucose P-value Butter Margarine
Shortening P-value Day 0 Day 15 P-value Sweetener × Fat Sweetener ×
Time from baking Fat × Time from baking
Appearance
Crust-darkness 54.1b 41.2c 44.8c 74.7a 0.00 57.2a 52.7b 51.1b 0.00 56.7a
50.7b 0.00 0.23 0.08 0.81
Crumb darkness 24.8b 22.9b 24.3b 56.3a 0.00 34.0a 35.2a 26.9b 0.00
33.4a 30.7b 0.00 0.40 0.26 0.99
Porosity 39.3ab 45.4a 41.7ab 37.2b 0.02 42.1a 38.8a 41.8a 0.25 50.6a
31.2b 0.00 0.01 0.68 0.89
Moisture 37.9b 27.7c 35.6b 58.4a 0.00 40.9a 43.2a 35.7b 0.00 41.9a
 37.9b 0.00 0.55 0.01 0.00

Odour
Buttery 29.6b 32.3b 39.6a 27.6b 0.00 34.8a 34.1a 27.9b 0.01 37.5a 27.1b
0.00 0.47 0.02 0.25
Fatty 21.5ab 24.6a 17.3b 17.8b 0.00 16.2b 25.1a 19.6b 0.00 16.0b 24.6a
0.00 0.40 0.03 0.89
Musty 24.7b 26.6ab 23.2b 32.5a 0.00 23.8a 28.5a 27.9a 0.06 23.3b 30.1a
0.00 0.32 0.00 0.25
Floury 33.6ab 37.6a 29.3b 17.6c 0.00 27.6a 30.0a 30.9a 0.38 27.1b 31.9a
0.02 0.42 0.11 0.44
Caramel 24.3b 17.7c 25.8b 55.8a 0.00 31.9a 30.9a 29.9a 0.48 34.2a
27.6b 0.00 0.70 0.14 0.94
Eggy 24.1a 27.5a 29.5a 8.1b 0.00 21.4a 23.4a 22.2a 0.55 28.5a 16.1b
0.00 0.85 0.22 0.35
Meringue 8.0a 9.1a 9.1a 2.1b 0.00 6.6b 5.2b 9.5a 0.00 8.8a
5.4b 0.00 0.63 0.39 0.03
Rancid 6.5a 10.1a 5.9a 8.0a 0.34 7.7a 8.8a 6.3a 0.48 5.2b 10.0a
0.01 0.94 0.00 0.69
Burnt 2.9b 2.8b 1.9b 36.0a 0.00 10.8ab 9.4b 12.4a 0.04 11.5a 10.3a
0.16 0.55 0.12 1.00
Toasted 36.1ab 30.6b 31.1b 36.6a 0.01 33.8ab 30.5b 36.4a 0.01 41.1a
26.1b 0.00 0.96 0.00 0.06

Flavour
Sweet 56.4a 16.7d 45.2c 50.1b 0.00 42.8a 43.1a 40.4a 0.11 46.0a 38.2b
0.00 0.58 0.31 0.98
Salty 20.5b 24.4a 18.6b 24.7a 0.00 19.3b 31.1a 15.9c 0.00 20.0b 24.1a
0.00 0.00 0.87 0.67
Sour 9.8b 16.7a 10.0b 12.3ab 0.00 10.0b 15.9a 10.6b 0.00 9.7b 14.7a
0.00 0.37 0.50 0.81
Bitter 5.2b 6.2b 5.2b 17.6a 0.00 7.9a 8.5a 9.3a 0.58 8.0a 9.1a
0.35 0.57 0.42 0.98
Buttery 36.1a 21.2b 33.8a 36.0a 0.00 35.0a 36.0a 24.4b 0.00 32.6a 30.9A
0.21 0.56 0.46 0.79
Doughy 33.8c 47.7a 40.6b 30.5c 0.00 34.6b 35.6b 44.2a 0.00 35.3b 41.0a
0.00 0.94 0.20 0.73
Caramel 38.2b 8.2d 32.5c 55.5a 0.00 35.3a 33.8ab 31.7b 0.00 32.5b
34.8a 0.01 0.15 0.18 1.00
Eggy 25.6a 21.4a 24.2a 11.6b 0.00 22.2a 21.4ab 18.5b 0.03 24.8a 16.6b
0.00 0.65 0.08 0.82
Fruity 6.2b 2.7c 7.5b 22.4a 0.00 9.1a 10.1a 9.9a 0.55 9.1a 10.3a
0.11 0.98 0.34 0.99

Oral-texture
Hardness 44.8a 44.9a 41.4a 43.3a 0.07 40.7b 44.5a 45.7a 0.00 27.8b
59.4a 0.00 0.00 0.12 0.08
Adhesiveness 43.0c 45.5cb 51.1a 49.2ab 0.00 45.2b 46.3ab 50.1b 0.01 47.0a
47.4a 0.77 0.07 0.57 0.47
Dissolve 44.0b 50.5a 44.4b 43.2b 0.00 45.5a 45.1a 46.0A 0.81 43.4b
47.7a 0.00 0.20 0.01 0.51
Moisture 37.1b 27.3c 39.1ab 42.1a 0.00 38.8a 38.0a 32.4b 0.00 44.2a
28.6b 0.00 0.96 0.00 0.86
Fatness38.1a 35.9a 37.8a 40.4a 0.11 38.8b 42.8a 32.6c 0.00 38.2a 37.9a
0.79 0.32 0.52 0.35
After-flavour
Bitter_aftertaste 3.8b 6.3b 6.7b 17.3a 0.00 7.5a 9.1a 8.9a 0.28 7.4b
9.6a 0.02 0.58 0.08 0.66
Sweet_aftertaste 45.2a 9.7c 38.2ab 37.3ab 0.00 32.0a 33.9a 31.9a 0.39
30.9b 34.3a 0.01 0.49 0.10 0.97
Sour_aftertaste 10.5a 14.9a 12.4ab 15.2a 0.00 11.9b 15.7a 12.1a 0.00 10.8b
15.7a 0.00 0.11 0.26 0.51
Full-size table

*Means with same letters are not significantly different (Tukey multiple comparisons test p <
0.05).

View Within Article

All sensory attributes except for “rancid” odour and “fatness” texture significantly discriminated (p
< 0.05) between the sweetener types tested. Cakes produced using glucose were most intense in
crust and crumb “darkness”, “moist” appearance, “caramel” and “burnt” odour, “bitter”, “caramel”,
and “fruity” flavour, and “bitter” after-flavour, whilst least intense in “floury”, “eggy” and “meringue”
odour. In contrast cakes produced using isomaltose were most intense in “doughy” flavour, whilst
cakes produced using sucrose were most intense in “sweet” flavour. Findings in this study are
supported by Ronda et al. (2005), who demonstrated that total replacement of sucrose with either
isomaltose, xylitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, oligofructose or polydextrose resulted in significant
changes in crust and crumb appearance, specific volume, firmness and sweetness of sponge
cakes.

In addition, different fat types significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the sensory characteristics of
cakes. Cakes produced with butter were darker in crust appearance and least intense in
“hardness” and “sour” after-flavour, while cakes produced with margarine were most intense in
terms of “fatty” odour, “salty”, “sour” flavour and “fatness” (Table 3). On the other hand, cakes
produced with shortening were most intense in “meringue” odour and “doughy” flavour, and least
intense in moist appearance, “salty”, “buttery”, flavour and moist, “fatness” texture. Similarly,
Gelinas et al. (1999) showed that different fat types influence the sensory characteristics of
cakes. In particular, cakes produced with butter possess higher specific volume (Brooker, 1993),
enhanced flavour, higher moisture content and softer texture than cakes produced with
shortening ([Gelinas et al., 1999] and [Podmore, 1994]). The desirable qualities associated with
the use of butter have been attributed to the smaller β crystals and lower melting
polymorphs typical of butter, compared to β crystals found in vegetable shortenings
(Podmore, 1994).

Time from baking also had a significant (p < 0.05) influence on the sensory
characteristics of cakes. All appearance characteristics were less intense after 15
days of storage (Table 3). Other sensory characteristics that included, “buttery”,
“caramel', “eggy” “meringue”, “toasted” odour, “sweet”, “eggy” flavour and moist
texture significantly (p < 0.05) decreased, while “fatty”, “musty”, “floury”, “rancid”
odour, “salty”, “sour”, “doughy”, “caramel” flavour, “hardness”, “dissolve” texture,
and “bitter”, “sour”, “sweet” after-flavour significantly (p < 0.05) increased after 15
days of storage. Previous studies have established significant correlations between
the loss of moisture and the increase in hardness from fresh to 21-day-old cakes
([Bajwa et al., 2005], [Gomez et al., 2008] and [Gomez et al., 2007]). In general, cake
hardening is a result of crumb dehydration (Willhoft, 1973) and starch retrogradation
(Gujral, Rosell, Sharma, & Singh, 2003). However, changes in flavour from fresh to
stored cakes have not been studied.

To investigate possible interactions of sweetener, fat type and time from baking on
sensory quality, three-way ANOVA was carried out. There was a significant sweetener
× fat type interaction (p < 0.05) observed for the sensory characteristics of “porosity” appearance,
“salty” flavour, and “hardness”. “Porosity” appearance was suppressed by the use of margarine,
butter and glucose, while shortening and glucose enhanced “porosity”. On the other hand, the
use of margarine and isomaltose enhanced the “salty” taste, while butter and xylitol reduced cake
“hardness”. A significant (p < 0.05) sweetener × time from baking interaction was observed for
“moist” appearance, “buttery', “fatty”, “musty”, “rancid”, and “toasted” odour, “dissolve” and “moist”
texture. Cakes produced with isomaltose showed a marked decrease in “moist” appearance,
“buttery” odour and “moist” texture, after 15 days of storage; whereas cakes containing glucose
retained “moist” texture after 15 days of storage similar to those at day zero. Similarly for “fatty”,
“toasted”, and “buttery” odour, cakes produced using glucose were indistinguishable for day zero
and day 15 samples. On the other hand, isomaltose enhanced “musty”, “rancid” odour and
“dissolve” texture after 15 days of storage, while xylitol and glucose suppressed the “musty” and
“rancid” odour respectively. Finally, a significant (p < 0.05) fat × time from baking interaction was
revealed for “moist” appearance, and “meringue” odour. Cakes produced with shortening showed
a considerable decrease in moist appearance after 15 days of storage, while fresh cakes that
contained shortening had increased “meringue” odour. It is well known, that in complex systems
such as cakes, several ingredients interact with each other and affect sensory quality ([Gelinas et
al., 1999] and [Gomez et al., 2008]). In principal, changes in sensory quality of cakes during
storage can be attributed to changes in physical and chemical factors (Bajwa et al., 2005), which
in this study were influenced by sugar and fat type. However, in all cases the effect was rather
small compared to the main effect. There was no significant three-way interaction between sugar
type, fat type and time from baking.

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to illustrate more clearly differences in the
sensory profiles of cakes formulated with different sweetener, fat types and time from baking.
ANOVA of the PC scores, based on replicate evaluations showed that the first five PCs
significantly discriminated (p < 0.05) between the samples, and accounted for 36%, 25%, 10%,
8%, and 6% of the experimental variance, respectively ([Table 4] and [Table 5]).

Table 4.

Results from principal component analysis on descriptive analysis showing the model cake (n =
24) scores and percentage variance accounted for by the first five components.
Cake samplesa PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5
BS1 0.65 −3.78 −0.56 0.95 −1.11
BI1 3.01 −2.88 1.96 −0.88 −0.76
BX1 1.27 −3.63 −0.14 −1.73 −0.77
BG1 −5.66 −1.35 0.94 −0.32 −0.04
MS1 0.06 −2.78 −2.07 −0.68 −0.58
MI1 2.48 −0.11 −0.84 −4.93 0.81
MX1 0.43 −3.34 −1.13 −0.57 0.05
MG1 −5.39 0.40 0.44 −1.83 −0.76
SS1 1.35 −1.81 −0.24 0.67 −0.82
SI1 4.35 −2.04 2.99 0.37 0.76
SX1 2.25 −3.89 1.77 0.04 3.30
SG1 −4.37 0.30 3.72 0.53 0.07
BS15 0.65 −0.45 −2.09 0.73 −0.73
BI15 3.36 3.82 0.86 −0.82 −1.75
BX15 0.57 0.57 −1.85 0.36 0.20
BG15 −5.83 0.46 −0.61 0.65 1.01
MS15 −0.05 1.59 −3.29 0.52 0.64
MI15 3.44 4.97 −0.27 −2.54 0.34
MX15 0.53 1.53 −1.34 0.44 1.60
MG15 −5.31 2.71 −0.65 −0.61 0.80
SS15 1.12 0.98 −1.69 2.85 0.02
SI15 4.33 5.49 2.21 1.38 −0.88
SX15 1.84 1.66 0.06 2.74 1.70
SG15 −5.09 1.58 1.82 0.27 −0.12

Explained variance (%) 36 25 10 8 6

Full-size table
a Fat types are distinguished by: Butter (B), Margarine (M), Shortening (S), Sweetener types
were recognised by: Sucrose (S), Isomaltose (I), Xylitol (X), Glucose (G). Time from baking was
distinguished by: fresh evaluated on the day of baking (1) and after fifteen days of Storage (15).
Cakes selected for consumer freshness testing are shown in bold.

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Table 5.

Results of principle component analysis on the sensory attributes of 24 cakes showing the
correlation loadings and percentage variance accounted for by the first five components.
Sensory attributesa PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5
O-Buttery 0.06 −0.26 −0.04 0.26 0.23
O-Fatty 0.06 0.27 −0.17 −0.12 −0.07
O-Musty −0.11 0.26 0.04 0.02 −0.07
O-Floury 0.24 0.10 −0.09 0.08 −0.01
O-Caramel −0.27 −0.07 0.14 −0.06 0.03
O-Eggy 0.20 −0.22 −0.01 −0.17 0.17
O-Meringue 0.20 −0.16 0.13 0.12 0.10
O-Rancid 0.01 0.28 −0.04 −0.10 −0.25
O-Burnt −0.27 0.05 0.22 −0.03 −0.05
O-Toasted −0.05 −0.27 0.19 −0.03 −0.16
F-Sweet −0.17 −0.06 −0.33 0.32 0.07
F-Salty −0.06 0.15 −0.25 −0.42 0.13
F-Sour 0.04 0.28 −0.05 −0.34 0.09
F-Bitter −0.24 0.11 0.23 0.01 −0.01
F-Buttery −0.17 −0.15 −0.37 −0.06 0.00
F-Doughy 0.20 0.14 0.16 0.05 0.33
F-Caramel −0.27 −0.05 −0.12 0.17 0.05
F-Eggy 0.16 −0.26 −0.14 −0.12 0.00
F-Fruity −0.28 0.05 0.09 0.04 0.07
T-Hardness 0.01 0.30 −0.16 0.22 0.08
T-Adhesiveness−0.05 −0.02 0.21 0.11 0.67
T-Dissolve 0.11 0.23 0.05 −0.05 −0.40
T-Moisture −0.14 −0.28 −0.03 −0.13 −0.01
T-Fatness −0.13 −0.03 −0.33 −0.33 0.02
AF-Bitter −0.23 0.15 0.21 −0.03 0.05
AF-Sweet −0.15 −0.10 −0.32 0.31 0.08
AF-Sour −0.04 0.28 −0.01 −0.23 0.24
A-Crust_darkness −0.27 −0.08 0.07 −0.05 −0.13
A-Crumb darkness −0.28 0.00 0.08 −0.17 −0.03
A-Porosity 0.07 −0.22 0.26 −0.20 −0.14
A-Moisture −0.27 −0.07 −0.03 −0.09 0.08

Explained variance (%) 36 25 10 8 6

Full-size table
a Sensory attributes are identified by: Appearance (A), Odour (O), Flavour (F), Texture (T), After-
flavour (AF).
View Within Article

Cakes along the positive axis of PC1 that contained shortening and isomaltose, were relatively
high in “floury”, “eggy” and meringue” odour, and “doughy” and “eggy” flavour, whilst cakes that
contained glucose were associated with high intensities of “crumb darkness”, “crust-darkness”,
“moist” appearance, “burnt” odour, “caramel”, “bitter”, and “fruity” flavour and “bitter” after-flavour,
along the negative axis ([Table 4] and [Table 5]). Ronda et al. (2005), reported that cakes
produced with isomaltose were lighter in crust and crumb colour compared with cakes produced
with oligofructose. Similarly, differences between crust and crumb colour of cakes produced with
glucose and isomaltose in this study can be related to the fact that isomaltose and xylitol do not
undergo Maillard reactions ([Bennion and Bamford, 1997] and [Lin and Lee, 2005]), while glucose
promotes browning reactions as a result of thermal degradation. Furthermore, the “burnt” odour,
“caramel”, “bitter” flavours and “bitter” after-flavour were in good agreement with the dark colour
associated with the Maillard reaction of cakes produced with glucose. Along the positive axis,
PC2 cakes produced with sugar isomaltose and stored for 15 days were high in “musty”, “fatty”,
“rancid” odour, “sour” flavour, “hardness”, “dissolve” texture and “sour” after-flavour. In contrast
cakes evaluated on day zero that consisted of butter and sucrose or shortening and xylitol were
high in “porous” appearance, “buttery”, “eggy”, “toasted” odour, “eggy” flavour and “moist” texture.
These findings are supported by the results reported in Table 3, where all attributes positioned
along the positive axis of PC2 significantly (p < 0.05) increased in intensity from day zero to day
15 samples. In contrast, attributes along the negative axis of PC2 were significantly (p <0.05)
more intense in day zero samples. Subsequent PC's differentiated cakes on the basis of their
sensory character. For example, cakes that contained butter, sucrose, xylitol and evaluated on
day zero shared a similar intensity of “sweet”, “buttery” flavour along PC3, but were differentiated
from cakes that contained margarine and glucose that had a “burnt” odour, “adhesive” texture and
“bitter” flavour. On the other hand PC4 distinguished cakes evaluated on day zero that contained
butter and sucrose from those that contained butter and xylitol on the basis of “buttery” odour,
“sweet” flavour and “salty”, “sour” flavour respectively. Observations across all significantly
discriminating PCs enhanced the interpretation of a specific cake's sensory profile relative to
other cakes formulated with different sweetener and fat types and storage time.
3.2. Cakes selection for consumer freshness testing

In order to serve a manageable sample set of cakes to each consumer, cake formulations with
the largest sensory variation from descriptive sensory analysis were selected using PCA. Results
of PCA shown in [Table 4] and [Table 5] revealed that six cakes evaluated on day zero (butter
sucrose, BS1; shortening xylitol, SX1; margarine sucrose, MS1; shortening isomaltose, SI1;
margarine isomaltose, MI1; butter glucose, BG1) and six cakes stored for 15 days (butter
glucose, BG15; margarine glucose, MG15; shortening xylitol, SX15; margarine sucrose, MS15;
butter isomaltose, BI15; shortening isomaltose, SI15), represented the sensory variation
reasonably well. For example, cakes evaluated on day zero and 15 days from baking that
contained shortening and isomaltose were very similar in “floury”, and “doughy” odour along the
positive axis of PC1, but were further differentiated by “hardness”, “rancid” odour, and “sour”
flavour, as well as “moist” texture, and “toasted” odour along the positive and negative axis of
PC2 respectively. Helgesen and Naes (1995) applied a similar approach and performed PCA on
sensory data on a reduced sample set of different Norwegian sausages to ensure that selected
samples represented the same variability as the original data set. In the current study,
observations across all significant PCs ensured that the cake samples selected for consumers'
freshness testing encompassed a wide range of sensory characteristics representative of all
samples. Hence specific sensory qualities that characterised each cake in terms of formulation
and storage would be expected to correlate with the consumer freshness perceptions. Under
these circumstances, it may be possible to predict freshness intensities of the different cakes that
were formulated with different types of sweetener, fat and time from baking, by linking descriptive
sensory and consumer freshness data ([Krishnamurthy et al., 2007] and [Luckow and Delahunty,
2004]).
3.3. Consumer freshness perceptions
Consumer participants (n = 120) comprised of 53% male and 47% female. The age distribution of
participants was 32% 18–30, 20% 31–45, 30% 46–60 and 18% over 60 years. The influences of
sweetener, fat type and time from baking on freshness scores were analysed using ANOVA on
the whole data set.

Results of ANOVA indicated that, by consuming and rating product freshness, consumers were
able to discriminate significant differences (d.f. = 3, F = 65.77, p < 0.05) between cakes produced
with different sweetener types. Post-hoc testing revealed that the cakes perceived to be most
fresh contained sucrose, xylitol and glucose, while the cakes perceived to be least fresh
contained isomaltose. For fat type, consumers perceived cakes produced with butter and
margarine to be significantly (d.f. = 2, F = 12.51, p < 0.05) fresher compared to cakes produced
with shortening. Furthermore, consumers judged cakes that were evaluated on the day of baking
to be significantly (d.f. = 1, F = 169.43, p < 0.05) fresher than cakes stored for 15 days. These
findings are consistent with Cardello and Schutz (2003), who found that time of product
manufacture and purchase was a primary determinate of consumer freshness judgements for six
different previous termfoods,next term including baked products. Bajwa et al. (2005) also showed
that a significant decrease in cake acceptability from fresh to 14-day-old cake corresponded to an
increase in physical cake hardening typical of moisture loss, and chemical changes in acidity and
flavour as a result of microbial growth.

There was a significant sweetener × fat type interaction (d.f. = 3, F = 27.09, p < 0.05) indicating
that in combination sugar and fat influenced consumer freshness judgements. In particular, cakes
that contained sucrose and butter were judged most fresh, while cakes that contained isomaltose
and butter were perceived as least fresh. These findings support previous studies that have
shown that consumer perceptions of freshness can vary within a category of products depending
on ingredients (Heenan et al., 2008). There was a significant sweetener × time from baking
interaction (d.f. = 3, F = 7.03, p < 0.05), that indicated the degree of cake freshness during
storage was dependant on the type of sweetener used in production. Cakes that contained
isomaltose lost perceived freshness more quickly than those produced with sucrose. After 15
days of storage cakes produced with sucrose showed a higher level of perceived freshness.
Sucrose has been shown to provide and maintain desirable textural qualities associated with
fresh cakes during storage (Ronda et al., 2005 F. Ronda, M. Gomez, C.A. Blanco and P.A.
Caballero, Effects of polyols and nondigestible oligosaccharides on the quality of sugar-free
sponge cakes, previous termFoodnext term Chemistry 90 (4) (2005), pp. 549–555. Article | PDF
(269 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (8)Ronda et al., 2005). In this study a
significant fat type × time from baking interaction (d.f. = 2, F = 6.31, p < 0.05) was observed,
showing that fat influenced the degree of perceived cake freshness during storage. In this case,
the use of butter in cakes enhanced the loss of perceived freshness. Finally, sweetener, fat type
and time from baking showed a significant three-way interaction (d.f. = 4, F = 4.77, p < 0.05),
demonstrating that a combination of sweetener and fat type used in the production of cakes
influenced the degree of perceived freshness during storage. According to Gelinas et al. (1999)
the incidence of cake staling was reduced during storage when different amounts of the
ingredients consisting of different fat type, sugar type, cocoa type, and levels of sodium
bicarbonate, flour and egg white were used in combination. In particular, glucose and shortening
accelerated the rate of staling. It was concluded that, when these ingredients were used in
combination with sucrose and butter, the rate of staling was reduced.

In order to examine individual consumer perceptions of freshness with regard to differences

between cake formulations, PCA of consumer acceptance data was carried out. The PCA
analysis revealed correlation loading and scores plots that described 51% of the explained
variation in the first two PCs (Fig. 1a and b). The direction of consumer perceived freshness
responses from the correlation loading plot's centre (Fig. 1a); determines the relative difference
shown between cakes formulations and time from baking variables represented on the scores
plot (Fig. 1b). The number and magnitude of individual freshness scores along the positive
dimension of PC 1 (Fig. 1a), which explained 39% of the variation, indicates that consumers
tended to agree that cake samples evaluated on day zero were more fresh, whilst cake samples
evaluated after 15 days were less fresh (Fig. 1b). Consumer freshness perceptions along PC 2
explained 12% of the variation (Fig. 1a), and showed individual differences between the
perceived freshness of cakes produced using a combination of butter and glucose along the
positive dimension, and cakes produced using shortening and isomaltose, as well as shortening
and xylitol along the negative dimension (Fig. 1b). As seen in Fig. 1a and b consumers were
evenly distributed across the cakes perceived as most fresh, suggesting that they couldn't agree
on which of the cake formulations were the most fresh.

Full-size image
Full-size image (33K)

Fig. 1. Correlations loading plot from PCA for freshness perceptions of three clusters of
consumers denoted by 1 (n = 58), 2 (n = 42) and 3 (n = 20) (a) and scores plot from principal
component analysis (PCA) of the twelve cake formulations and time from baking variables (b).

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Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was applied to further investigate cake freshness
perceptions. HCA identified three consumer groups, consisting of 58, 42 and 20 consumers
respectively. However from Fig. 1a, there was no clear visual evidence of segmentation of
freshness scores, and it appeared in the present study the use of PCA alone did not sufficiently
explain the data. In a similar study based on hedonic data Helgesen et al. (1997) reported that a
visual inspection of PCA data into clusters was only possible when the consumer sample
population was small; similar observations were also made by (Schlich, 1995).

The mean freshness scores for each cluster of the twelve cakes are represented in Table 6.
Within each cluster, ANOVA was carried out on the mean freshness scores. Consumers'
significantly discriminated among the cake formulations on the basis of freshness in clusters one
(p < 0.05), two (p < 0.05) and, three (p < 0.05). Consumers from each cluster agreed that the
freshest cakes were evaluated on the day of baking and were formulated with butter and sucrose,
and margarine and sucrose. Additionally consumers in cluster three considered the cakes
formulated with shortening and isomaltose and evaluated on the day of baking to be fresher than
did consumers in clusters one and two. Further observation of Table 6 revealed that consumers
in cluster three judged the 15 day old cake formulated with butter and glucose to be fresher than
did consumers in clusters one and two. Despite these observations, it should be noted that a
similar trend in freshness scores was represented across the majority of cake formulation
variables and time from baking for each consumer cluster. For example, consumers' in cluster
two, exhibited similar judgements of freshness for the different cake formulations and time from
baking to consumers' in cluster one (Table 6).

Table 6.

Results for ANOVA including Post-hoc Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD)* testing
representing mean freshness scores of each cake formulation for each consumer cluster
including overall mean freshness scores.
Cake formulation* 1 2 3 Overall
BG1 36.9bc 50.7b 72.0ab 44.9b
BS1 44.3a 85.6a 87.5a 66.0a
SX1 35.5abc42.4bc 72.0ab 43.9b
SI1 26.8bcd32.3bcd84.7a 38.4bc
MS1 39.4ab 87.5a 79.0a 62.8a
MI1 32.2abc39.1bc 25.0cd 33.4bc
BG15 24.5cd 29.6cd 45.0bc 29.7cd
BI15 17.3de 15.6de 20.4cd 17.2ef
SI15 8.5e 8.1e 12.5d 9.0f
SX15 28.9bcd26.3cd 36.6cd 29.4cd
MG15 30.3bcd24.3cde17.5cd 26.1de
MS15 29.5bcd33.4bcd29.0cd 31.0cd
F-value 10.51 38.20 22.17 44.81
P-value 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Full-size table
* Cakes formulated with different fat: sweetener types and time from baking. Fat types are
distinguished by: Butter (B), Margarine (M), Shortening (S). Sweetener types were recognised by:
Sucrose (S), Isomaltose (I), Xylitol (X), Glucose (G). Self-life is distinguished by: fresh evaluated
on the day of baking (1) and after fifteen days of storage (15). Means with the same letter are not
significantly different (Tukey multiple comparison test p < 0.05).

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To obtain a further understanding of each consumer cluster, a simple tabulation of gender and
age was accomplished. No significant differences were reported for the expected and actual
gender and age distribution of consumers across each separate cluster. Cluster one comprised of
32 (55%) males and 26 (45%) females, cluster two was made up of 21 (50%) males and 21
(50%) females, and cluster three had 12 (60%) males and 8 (40%) females. Among the 58
consumers in cluster one, 53% were under the age of 45 years old, whilst 47% of the consumers
were older than 46 years. The age distribution in cluster two was 50% under 45 years old and
50% older than 46 years old, while consumers in cluster three comprised of 52% under the age of
45 years old with 48% over the age of 46 years old. These results showed that no single simple
demographic factor described any of the clusters.
3.4. Modelling consumer freshness perceptions and sensory attributes

In order to help understand sensory drivers associated with consumer clusters, relationships
between clustered perceived freshness data for the twelve cake samples evaluated by
consumers and the descriptive sensory data were investigated using PLSR (Table 7). The results
revealed that 14 sensory attributes represented an explained variance of 73% that described 93%
of the perceived freshness data in cluster one, on the first two PC's. Consumers in this cluster
associated “crust-darkness”, “sweet”, “salty”, “buttery”, “caramel”, “eggy” flavour, “moist” texture
and “sweet” after-flavour with cake freshness, while “dusty”, “burnt”, “rancid” odour and
“hardness”, “dissolve” texture, were negatively correlated with cake freshness (Table 6). For
cluster two, 13 sensory attributes represented an explained variance of 70% and accounted for
93% of the consumer freshness data on the first two PC's. Consumer freshness ratings from
cluster two were positively driven by “porous” appearance, “sweet”, “caramel”, “eggy” flavour and
“sweet” after-flavour, and negatively correlated with “burnt” odour, “sour”, “doughy” flavour,
“hardness”, “adhesive” texture and “bitter” after-flavour. Finally, cluster three consumer freshness
scores were positively correlated with “crust-darkness”, “porous” appearance, “meringue”,
“toasted” odour, “moist” texture and negatively correlated with “fatty” odour, “salty”, “sour” flavour,
“hardness” and “sour” after-flavour. These ten attributes, explained 61% of the sensory data that
described 97% of the freshness data in cluster three on the first two PC's.

Table 7.

Results of PLS1 regression between the descriptive sensory data matrix (X-variables) and the
consumer freshness clusters in terms of overall freshness scores (Y-variables) of the cake (n =
12) formulations and time from baking variables tested by consumers.
Cluster Number of consumers Positive correlations Negative correlations Calibration
Validation RMSEPa
1 58 A-crust-darkness, F-sweet, F-salty, F-buttery, F-caramel, F-eggy, T-moisture, AF-
sweet O-dusty, O-rancid, O-burnt, F-doughy, T-hardness, T-dissolve 0.96 0.92 3.68
2 42 A-porosity, F-sweet, F-buttery, F-caramel, F-eggy, T-moisture, AF-sweet O-
burnt, F-sour, F-doughy, T-hardness, T-adhesiveness, AF-bitter 0.97 0.83 8.55
3 20 A-crust-darkness, A-porosity, O-meringue, O-toasted, T-moistureO-fatty, F-salty,
F-sour, T-hardness, AF-sour 0.98 0.95 8.03
Full-size table
a RMSEP, root mean squares of prediction; A, appearance, O, odour, F, flavour, T, texture, AF,
after-flavour.

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The PLS results (Table 7) revealed that clusters one and two shared similar sensory drivers for
perceived cake freshness in terms of “sweet”, “buttery”, “caramel”, “eggy” flavour, “moist” texture
and “sweet” after-flavour. However, cluster one consumers were distinguished from cluster two
consumers by the “crust-darkness” and “dissolve” texture, whereas cluster two consumers were
influenced by the additional attributes of “porous” appearance, “adhesive” texture and “bitter”
after-flavour. Cluster three could be distinguished from clusters one and two consumers' by the
positively correlated attributes “meringue”, “toasted” odour and negatively correlated attributes
“fatty” odour and “salty” flavour. Descriptive sensory results (see Table 3) showed that “meringue”
odour was most intense in cakes produced using shortening whereas, “fatty” odour and “salty”
flavour was least intense. Typically these attributes influenced the higher freshness scores
depicted by cakes formulated using shortening for cluster three consumers.

Calibration coefficients that expressed the strength of the current models were ≥0.96, whilst
validation coefficients, which depicted the current models' ability to predict new samples, were
≥0.83. The RMSEP values that ranged from 3.68 to 8.55 (on a scale from 1 to 150 mm) signified
that all models had good predictability for the current cake formulations and time from baking
tested. These data indicated that the models developed could be used to predict freshness of
cakes that were similar in sensory character without having to carry out further consumer testing.
By optimising PLS models in this study, sensory attributes that most influenced consumer
freshness judgements could be determined. It is important to note, that correlations between
sensory attributes and consumer freshness judgements does not necessarily imply causality. The
models found in this study should be interpreted as showing associations rather than direct cause
and effect relationships. In addition, they represent the present range of cakes analysed under
the present experimental conditions (Piggott, 1986).
3.5. Predicting consumer freshness perceptions from descriptive sensory analysis results

The PLS models for clusters one, two and three were used to predict freshness scores of the
twelve cakes not assessed by consumers but evaluated using descriptive sensory analysis.
Measured freshness scores (reference) and predicted freshness scores for the models for
consumers in clusters one, two and three are presented in Table 8. In addition, the average
prediction error (RMSEP), based on comparison of predicted freshness and measured freshness
of the twelve known cake samples is shown (Table 8). The RMSEP for cluster one was the
lowest, indicating that the descriptive sensory data best predicted the perceived freshness of this
cluster, whilst cluster three was seen to have the highest RMSEP value, indicating that the
relationship between the sensory data and the consumer freshness perceptions used in the
construction of this model was weakest. Nevertheless observations of model predictions for
perceived freshness intensities, alongside measured freshness intensities for the 12 cake
samples used to build models, demonstrated that perceived freshness were predicted correctly
for each cluster, thus validating all three models. For example, the model for cluster one correctly
predicted that freshest cakes were those evaluated on day zero and contained butter and
sucrose, and margarine and sucrose. Least fresh cakes were those evaluated after 15 days of
storage, and produced with butter and isomaltose, and shortening and isomaltose. The model for
cluster two consumers showed similar trends to that for cluster one. In terms of perceived
freshness, xylitol showed good performance as a substitute for sucrose. Similarly, Ronda et al.
(2005) demonstrated that among seven bulking agents, xylitol was the best substitute for sucrose
since cakes formulated with it gave sensory characteristics and liking very similar to those of
sucrose. In terms of predicted perceived freshness, butter and sucrose demonstrated an optimum
performance during product storage. Clearly this approach showed promising opportunities in
product reformulation with regard to the determination of extended perceived freshness.

Table 8.

Results of predictions showing predicted freshness intensities scores (Y-variables) and reference
consumer freshness scores (actual measured) for the 24 cake formulations in each consumer
cluster.
Cake formulationa Cluster 1 freshness intensities Cluster 2 freshness intensities Cluster
3 freshness intensities
BG1 36.4, 36.9 52.5, 50.7 77.1, 72.0
BS1 40.8, 44.3 82.3, 85.6 87.4, 87.5
SX1 37.6, 35.5 40.6, 42.4 76.5, 72.0
SI1 29.0, 26.8 33.3, 32.3 83.6, 84.7
MS1 39.7, 39.4 80.2, 87.5 65.9, 79.0
MI1 32.6, 32.2 43.6, 39.1 29.4, 25.0
BG15 29.3, 24.5 31.3, 29.6 48.7, 45.0
BI15 14.4, 17.3 19.5, 15.6 16.0, 20.4
SI15 10.3, 8.5 8.4, 8.1 14.6, 12.5
SX15 26.2, 28.9 21.9, 26.3 34.3, 36.6
MG15 27.6, 30.3 20.0, 24.3 20.2, 17.5
MS15 30.9, 29.5 47.7, 33.4 27.0, 29.0
BX1 39.4 75.8 89.3
MG1 32.6 52.9 58.8
MX1 37.4 68.4 77.1
SG1 29.8 27.9 66.0
SS1 31.3 69.0 82.3
BI1 33.2 53.8 83.7
BS15 31.5 66.1 46.4
BX15 28.6 45.9 42.0
MI15 17.5 7.9 16.9
MX15 28.1 35.7 26.7
SG15 27.3 23.4 48.5
SS15 29.2 44.4 50.8

RMSEPb 3.68 9.35 8.03

Full-size table

Freshness intensity scores indicated in the table for each cluster are: predicted, measured in
italics.
a Cakes formulated with different fat: sweetener types and time from baking. Fat types are
distinguished by: Butter (B), Margarine (M), Shortening (S). Sweetener types were recognised by:
Sucrose (S), Isomaltose (I), Xylitol (X), Glucose (G). Time from baking is distinguished by: fresh
evaluated on the day of baking (1) and after fifteen days of storage (15). The twelve cake
samples presented to consumers for freshness measures are presented in bold.
b RMSEP, root mean squares of prediction.

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The model constructed for cluster three, predicted that freshest cakes were produced with butter
and sucrose and evaluated on the day of baking, whilst least fresh cakes were produced with
shortening and isomaltose and stored for 15 days. Cluster three consumers could be further
distinguished from clusters one and two by the higher model predictions of freshness scores
given for samples that contained shortening and sucrose and for butter and isomaltose that were
evaluated on the day of baking. However for some cakes, predicted freshness intensities for each
cluster were either higher or lower than the actual measured freshness intensity. It is important to
point out that during tasting consumers are more likely to base their freshness judgements on a
more complex mixture of sensory characteristics than the limited number represented by the
current models (Schlich, 1995).
4. Conclusion

This study demonstrated that sweetener type, fat type and time from baking significantly (p <
0.05) influenced product appearance, odour, flavour, texture and after-flavour characteristics of
model cakes. In addition, significant interactions between sweetener type, fat type and time from
baking revealed that changes in the sensory qualities of cakes during storage were affected by
the combination of sweetener type and fat type used in formulation. PCA of descriptive data
enabled the selection of twelve cake samples for consumer sensory testing that encompassed a
wide range of sensory characteristics. Cake formulations and time from baking variables not
selected for consumer testing were positioned within the sensory space of cake samples
presented to consumers. Consumer perceived freshness responses were significantly influenced
by sweetener type, fat type and time from baking. In combination, sweetener type and fat type
used in the production of cakes affected the degree of cake perceived freshness during storage.
In general, consumers agreed that freshest cakes were evaluated on the day of baking, and
contained butter and sucrose, and margarine and sucrose, whilst least fresh cakes were
evaluated following 15 days of storage and contained shortening and isomaltose. Cluster analysis
identified three consumer groups that varied in their perceptions of cake freshness. As a
consequence, important sensory characteristics that were related by Partial Least Squares
Regression to each consumer group enabled the prediction of perceived freshness of additional
cakes samples.
Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the New Zealand Foundation for Research previous termSciencenext
term & Technology (FRST) and The New Zealand Baking Industry Research Trust (BIRT) for
funding this work.
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Corresponding Author Contact InformationCorresponding author. Sensory previous

termSciencenext term Research Centre, Department of previous termFood Science,next term
University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand. Tel.: +64 3 479 4052; fax: +64 3
479 7567.
LWT - Food Science and Technology
Volume 43, Issue 7, September 2010, Pages 1032-1041