Comparison of Temporal Profiles among Sucrose, Sucralose, and Acesulfame Potassium after Swallowing Sweetened Coffee Beverages and Sweetened Water Solutions

Non-nutritive sweeteners have been used as substitutes for nutritive sweeteners with the goal of preventing obesity and dental caries. The main factor responsible for the difference in taste between beverages containing a nutritive sweetener and those containing a non-nutritive sweetener is the temporal profile of sensory attributes. In this study, untrained panelists performed a time–intensity evaluation of sweetness, using one coffee beverage containing a nutritive sweetener (sucrose) and two coffee beverages containing non-nutritive sweeteners (sucralose or acesulfame potassium (acesulfame K)). They evaluated continuously perceived intensity of sweetness for 150 s after swallowing each coffee beverage. We did not detect a significant difference in temporal profiles among the three coffee beverages. To investigate why the temporal profiles of the three coffee beverages followed similar traces, all untrained participants who had participated in the coffee beverage session also performed a time–intensity evaluation of sweetness using three water solutions (sucrose-sweetened, sucralose-sweetened, and acesulfame K–sweetened deionized water). We observed a significant difference in temporal profiles among the three water solutions. These results indicate that differences in the temporal profiles of coffee beverages might be masked by factors other than the sweetness of the sweetener