TASTE SENSITIVITY CHANGES AMONG CONSUMERS OF PEMPEK-CUKO IN PALEMBANG CITY, SOUTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA

Abstract

Pempek is a typical food from Palembang, Indonesia. It is commonly consumed with cuko, a dipping sauce containing acetic acid which is corrosive. The research aimed to determine the absolute and recognition threshold, as well as changes in tongue sensitivity to sweet, salty and sour taste of the pempek-cuko consumers. The threshold measurements used the ASTM method. There were 78 panelists whom grouped based on the frequency of eating pempek-cuko per week, namely twice and more than twice per week. The results showed that the absolute threshold of panelists with the frequency of eating pempek-cuko twice per week for sweet, salty and sour tastes were 0.827%, 0.071%, and 0.041% respectively, while the recognition threshold were 1.241%, 0.107%, and 0.061% respectively. For panelists with a frequency of eating pempek-cuko more than twice per week, the absolute thresholds for sweet, salty and sour tastes were 1.581%, 0.243% and 0.066% respectively, while the recognition threshold were 2.371%, 0.365% and 0.099% respectively. The absolute and recognition threshold of all tastes for panelists whose frequency of eating pempek-cuko was more than twice per week was higher compared to panelists whose frequency of eating pempek and cuko was twice per week. Continuous exposure of the tongue to the sour taste with low acidity of cuko contributed to a decrease in tongue sensitivity to all of the tastes.

Keywords

• pempek
• cuko
• absolute threshold
• recognition threshold
• taste