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 Printable version |
Perception and food behaviour: the specific case of fats |
Oléagineux, Corps Gras, Lipides. Volume 6, Number 4, 311-5, Juillet - Août 1999, Dossier : Saveurs, arômes, lipides
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 Résumé
Article gratuit
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Author(s) : Jeanine LOUIS-SYLVESTRE |
Summary : The sensory characteristics (quantitative and qualitative cues) of a well-known food are associated to its post-ingestive consequences. Thus, the subject is able to anticipate his post-prandial well-being and operates a transfer from this anticipated satisfaction to the sensory pleasure of eating the food (affective cues). The hedonic value of a food is a function of its nutritional properties and also of its adequacy with the subject's nutrient needs. Such an adaptative control requires that the subject could recognize the food. How is fat content in foods perceived ? The psychophysics of fat perception is not completely understood. Humans can readily juge increasing stimulus fat content in liquid dairy products. Perception of fat content in these products is largely attributable to textural properties and flavor. Estimates of the percentage energy from fat in common foods are characterized by wide deviations from true values. However fat-rich foods seem to be appreciated since in France, for instance, this percentage is currently about 40 % in the diet. We hypothesize that, high-fat foods that nevertheless contain a small amount of carbohydrates, are appreciated not for their fat content but because in the hungry subject the energy need is rapidly relieved after the absorption of these carbohydrates. The sensory fatty characteristics of the majority of the currently available foods are associated to the post-prandial well-being. In normal-weight subjects low-fat foods could become appreciated following a learning period when the sensory characteristics of these foods are progressively associated with the anticipated relief of energy needs. However the same change in preference seems difficult to induce in subjects in whom fat becomes an important source of energy (obese subjects or subjects that used to perform prolonged physical exercice). In such subjects the long-term adherence to the recommanded low-fat diet is difficult to obtain. |
Keywords : Perception of fat content in food, sensory preferences for fats. |
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