2026-02-12 ペンシルベニア州立大学(PennState)
<関連情報>
- https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/sour-grapes-taste-experience-sour-foods-depends-individual-consumer
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329325003866
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329324000545
酸味に関する消費者セグメンテーション:認識、好み、性格、摂取量の調査 Consumer segmentation for sourness: exploring perception, liking, personality, and intake
Astrid E. D’Andrea, John E. Hayes, Helene Hopfer
Food Quality and Preference Available online: 27 November 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105811
Highlights
- Dose-response functions differed by organic acid type.
- Citric acid was the most sour and puckering while lactic acid was the least.
- Three distinct consumer hedonic functions were observed across acid type.
- Perceptual differences between hedonic groups were observed for some acids.
- Sour dislikers consumed significantly less citrus fruit and fruit juices than sour likers.
Abstract
Organic acids are commonly added for sourness in food, but published data on relative sourness at equimolar concentrations is lacking, and related attributes like puckering and drying remain understudied. Here, we compare different organic acids in a large sample of naïve consumers. Participants (n = 71) who reported consuming sour foods or beverages at least once a month rated attribute intensities and overall liking of aqueous equimolar solutions of lactic, malic, fumaric, tartaric, and citric acid across four log concentrations. Dose-response functions revealed acid-specific intensity differences. Citric acid induced the most sourness and puckering, while lactic acid induced the least. Based on the linear mixed effects model coefficients, relative to lactic acid, sourness increased the most with fumaric and malic acid, followed by tartaric, and citric acid. Based on affective data and recent literature, participants were segmented into three hedonic groups: (1) a Strong Negative (SN) group showing a strong drop in liking with increasing concentration, (2) an intermediate Weak Positive-Negative (WP/N) group where liking dropped more gradually, and (3) a Strong Positive (SP) group where liking increased with increasing acid concentration. Notably, the three groups differed in their perception of sourness, puckering, and drying, which was more pronounced for the non-citric acids tested. Strong sour dislikers (SN) rated these attributes as more intense than the other groups, particularly at higher concentrations. Compared to the SN group, strong sour likers (SP) self-reported a significantly higher intake of citrus/tart fruits and fruit juices, but no personality differences were observed.
成人における酸味に対する異なる感覚快楽機能 Distinct sensory hedonic functions for sourness in adults
Sara Spinelli, Helene Hopfer, Victor Moulinier, John Prescott, Erminio Monteleone, John E. Hayes
Food Quality and Preference Available online: 2 March 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105152
citric acid.
Highlights
- A substantial minority of children like intense sourness but adult data are lacking.
- Adults in the US and Italy rated liking for increasing amounts of
- Three distinct patterns of response were seen across both cohorts.
- Most showed strong negative relationships but 1 in 8 liked intense sourness.
- Simple averaging across a group of individuals obfuscates big differences in liking.
Abstract
Over the last half-century, variable responses to sweetness have repeatedly been shown to fall into a small number of hedonic responses, implying that looking only at group means may can obfuscate meaningfully different response patterns. Comparative data for sourness is quite sparse, especially in adults. While increased liking with higher acid concentration has been reported for some children, in adults, sourness is classically assumed to be aversive, with a monotonic drop in liking with increasing sourness. Here, we test this assumption using a simple model system or an experimental beverage in convenience samples of adults from the United States (increasing citric acid in water) and Italy (increasing citric acid in pear juice). Participants rated intensity and liking of sampled stimuli. For both cohorts, we find clear evidence of three distinct patterns of responses: a strong negative group where liking dropped with increased sourness, an intermediate group who showed a more muted drop in liking with more sourness, and a strong positive group where liking increased with more sourness. Strikingly, both cohorts showed similar proportions of response patterns, with ∼63–70 % in the strong negative group, and ∼11–12 % in the strong positive group, suggesting these proportions may be stable across cultures. Notably, the three groups did not differ by age or gender. These data support the existence of different hedonic response profiles to sour stimuli in adults, once again highlighting the importance of looking at individual differences and potential consumer segments, rather than merely averaging hedonic responses across all individuals within a group.
