Sensory evaluation of sweetness and sugar content in special milk formulas

Uvod: Dojenje je najbolj idealen način prehrane dojenčka v prvih šestih mesecih življenja. Če ima dojenček zdravstvene težave, potrebuje specialne mlečne formule (SMF). SMF z višjo intenzivnostjo sladkega okusa lahko okrepijo dojenčkovo prirojeno nagnjenje k sladkemu okusu. Vsebnost in sestava sladkorjev z embalaže ni jasno razvidna. Namen in metode: S senzorično metodo razvrščanja ugotoviti razlike v intenzivnosti sladkosti 8 začetnih,13 SMF od rojstva dalje in 1 nadaljevalne SMF ter s fizikalno-kemijskimi analizami določiti vsebnost vode, pepela in beljakovin. Rezultati: 8 vzorcev začetnih SMF po sladkosti razdelimo v 3 skupine, značilno se razlikujejo vzorci 1. in 3. skupine (p < 0,05). Od vseh vzorcev SMF od rojstva dalje in vzorca nadaljevalne SMF je bil en vzorec bolj sladek od 9 vzorcev z najnižjimi vsotami rangov (p < 0,05).Trije vzorci so bili značilno manj sladki od 10 vzorcev z največjimi vsotami rangov (p < 0,05). Vsebnost beljakovin in pepela (povprečje ± SD (g/100 mL)) znaša: a) v začetnih SMF: 1,44 ± 0,17 in 0,22 ± 0,1b) v SMF od rojstva dalje in nadaljevalni SMF: 1,56 ± 0,28 g in 0,26 ± 0,07. Zaključek: SMF se razlikujejo v intenzivnosti sladkega okusa. Med deklariranimi in analiziranimi vrednostmi beljakovin ni statistično značilnih razlik, medtem ko je med deklariranimi in analiziranimi vrednostmi pepela prišlo do statistično značilnih razlik.Introduction: Human milk represents the best nutrtition for infants in the first six months of their life. If the baby can not be breastfed due to nutritional problems, infant or follow-on special milk formulas (SMF) should be used. Even though the SMFs with higher intensity of sweetness reinforce the infants innate susceptibility to sweetness, the type and content of sugar is not always clearly marked on the packaging. Methods: Sensory analysis method of classification was used to find the differences in sweetness intensity of 8 infant SMF (0-6 months), 13 infant formula for special medical purposes (0-12 months) and 1 follow-on SMF (6-12 months).Physico-chemical analysis was used to determine the content of water, minerals and proteins in all 22 samples. Results: 8 infant SMF samples were divided into 3 groups according to sweetness intensity. Statisticaly significant differences were observed between 1st and 3rd group (p < 0,05). Out of 13 infant formula for special medical purposes and 1 follow-on SMFs analysed samples, 1 was significantly sweeter than 9 with the lowest sum of ranks (p < 0,05) and 3 samples were significantly less sweet than 10 with the highest sum of ranks (p < 0,05). Content of protein and minerals (average ± SD (g/100 mL)) was: a) Infant SMFs 1,44 ± 0,17 g/100 mL and 0,22 ± 0,1 g/100 mLb) Infant formula for special medical purposes and follow-on SMF 1,56 ± 0,28 g/100 mL and 0,26 ± 0,07 g/100 mL. Conclusion: Sensory analysis method of classification revealed differences in sweetness intensity between various samples. There was no significant differences between analysed and declared protein values, while there was significant differences between analysed and declared mineral values