Nihon Kikai Gakkai ronbunshu (Sep 2023)
Physiological and psychological effects of moisture content in multi-component frozen confectionery
Abstract
There are few studies that have conducted comprehensive verification of the physiological and psychological effects of different textures of chilled confectioneries by means of biometric measurements and subjective evaluation. The effects of confectionery texture are still unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the effects of different textures on the activity of autonomic nervous system, the brain, and muscles, and emotion by simultaneously measuring changes over time in various biological information and assessing subjective evaluation given by the tasters during consumption of different types of ice cream with monaka shell with varying water content. Participants answered a subjective evaluation questionnaire and rested for 60 s, and then performed the task. The monaka ice cream consisted of 9 blocks, each of which was eaten in 20 s. Afterwards, the participants rested for 60 s and completed a subjective evaluation questionnaire. Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure brain activity during eating, electromyography to measure muscle activity, and electrocardiography equipment to analyze heart rate variability. Eating monaka shell with low water content significantly activated cerebral blood flow in the right hemisphere when the first and sixth blocks were eaten. A significant trend was observed in LF/HF, which is considered an index of sympathetic nerve activity. In the mastication force test, the participants chewed significantly more strongly on ice cream with a high water content monaka shell than those with a low water content. During mastication, the participants who consumed ice cream with the low water content shell tended to use slow muscles more than those who consumed ice creams with high water content shell. The questionnaire showed that both the increase in degree of emotions such as surprise and excitement and the decrease in the degree of emotions such as sadness and depression were larger when the participants consumed ice cream with a high water content shell than those with a low water content shell. The results suggest that monaka shells with a low water content induce a more relaxed state and pleasant emotions than those with a high water content.
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