Identification on sensory attributes and children’s ratings of fruits and vegetables with and without appearance modification: A pilot study

Most previous studies have addressed that children dislike fruits and vegetables because of their sensory characteristics. Intervention focusing on sensory modification may promote children’s liking of fruits and vegetables. This study modified the appearance of 10 fruits and vegetables to resemble snacks. As the food was prepared, other sensory characteristics changed as well. A sensory evaluation was conducted on 10 original and 10 modified foods, involving 12 children. The results revealed that modified eggplant and pumpkin gained favorable ratings among the children. Appetizing and repulsive sensory attributes were identified through a corresponding analysis to facilitate future studies on food modification. Copyright © 2016 Chung LMY, et al.