Sensory Characterization of Odors in Used Disposable Absorbent Incontinence Products.

PURPOSE: The objectives of this study were to characterize the odors of used incontinence products by descriptive analysis and to define attributes to be used in the analysis. A further objective was to investigate to what extent the odor profiles of used incontinence products differed from each other and, if possible, to group these profiles into classes. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Used incontinence products were collected from 14 residents with urinary incontinence living in geriatric nursing homes in the Gothenburg area, Sweden. METHODS: Pieces were cut from the wet area of used incontinence products. They were placed in glass bottles and kept frozen until odor analysis was completed. A trained panel consisting of 8 judges experienced in this area of investigation defined terminology for odor attributes. The intensities of these attributes in the used products were determined by descriptive odor analysis. Data were analyzed both by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey post hoc test and by principal component analysis and cluster analysis. RESULTS: An odor wheel, with 10 descriptive attributes, was developed. The total odor intensity, and the intensities of the attributes, varied considerably between different, used incontinence products. The typical odors varied from "sweetish" to "urinal," "ammonia," and "smoked." Cluster analysis showed that the used products, based on the quantitative odor data, could be divided into 5 odor classes with different profiles. CONCLUSIONS: The used products varied considerably in odor character and intensity. Findings suggest that odors in used absorptive products are caused by different types of compounds that may vary in concentration.

Identification of Key Odorants in Used Disposable Absorbent Incontinence Products.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify key odorants in used disposable absorbent incontinence products. DESIGN: Descriptive in vitro study SUBJECTS AND SETTING:: Samples of used incontinence products were collected from 8 residents with urinary incontinence living in geriatric nursing homes in the Gothenburg area of Sweden. Products were chosen from a larger set of products that had previously been characterized by descriptive odor analysis. METHODS: Pieces of the used incontinence products were cut from the wet area, placed in glass bottles, and kept frozen until dynamic headspace sampling of volatile compounds was completed. Gas chromatography-olfactometry was used to identify which compounds contributed most to the odors in the samples. Compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Twenty-eight volatiles were found to be key odorants in the used incontinence products. Twenty-six were successfully identified. They belonged to the following classes of chemical compounds: aldehydes (6); amines (1); aromatics (3); isothiocyanates (1); heterocyclics (2); ketones (6); sulfur compounds (6); and terpenes (1). CONCLUSION: Nine of the 28 key odorants were considered to be of particular importance to the odor of the used incontinence products: 3-methylbutanal, trimethylamine, cresol, guaiacol, 4,5-dimethylthiazole-S-oxide, diacetyl, dimethyl trisulfide, 5-methylthio-4-penten-2-ol, and an unidentified compound.

Predicting consumers' intention to consume ready-to-eat meals. The role of moral attitude.

This study investigates the usefulness of integrating moral attitude into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model when predicting intention to consume ready-to-eat (RTE) meals. Questionnaire data were gathered in three countries: Norway (N = 112), The Netherlands (N = 99), and Finland (N = 134) in spring 2009. A stepwise hierarchical regression was conducted, and the analyses showed that moral attitude is an important predictor of RTE-meal consumption. The feeling of moral obligation, operationalised as a negative feeling of guilt, had a negative effect on peoples' intention to consume ready meals in all the three countries tested, and the explained variance (R²) for TPB increased when moral was added as an explanatory factor. However, although the test showed significant results for the effect of attitude towards behavior and moral in all countries, non-significant results were observed for the effect of subjective norm in both The Netherlands and Norway when moral attitude was included to the TPB-model, indicating cultural differences in the social pressure towards ready meal consumption.

Sensory design of foods for the elderly.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Elderly persons with dysphagia need food that requires little or no chewing, that is easy to swallow and has attractive sensory characteristics. The aim was to investigate how ingredients varied according to experimental designs influence the perceived sensory, chewing and swallowing characteristics of two types of texture-modified model foods. METHODS: Meat- and carrot-based, texture-modified model foods were produced. The following parameters were varied: particle size, fat content, starch and egg composition. The samples were studied using sensory analyses, focus group discussions and consumer studies. RESULTS: The design parameters mainly had an impact on sensory texture attributes. The experts in the focus groups selected three products of each type which were regarded as being optimal for older persons. All the products contained a high proportion of egg yolk and a low amount of starch. Older consumers considered all the selected products to be easy to chew and swallow. The differences between older persons in nursing homes compared to those living in their own homes could be linked to health. CONCLUSIONS: Optimization of factors influencing food quality through the use of experimental designs in combination with sensory and consumer studies is required in order to meet the needs and demands of older people.

Preventing lipid oxidation during recovery of functional proteins from herring (Clupea harengus) fillets by an acid solubilization process.

It has previously been found that a process based on solubilization at pH 2.7 gives high yields of herring muscle proteins with good functionality. In this study, the development of lipid oxidation during acid processing of herring mince was studied. It was tested how modifications of the process conditions and/or additions of antioxidants could prevent lipid oxidation during the actual process and then during ice storage of the protein isolates. Processing parameters evaluated were prewash of the mince, exposure time to pH 2.7, inclusion or exclusion of a high-speed centrifugation, and addition of antioxidants. Antioxidants tested were erythorbate (0.2%, 9.3 mM), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP; 0.2%, 5.4 mM), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; 0.044%, 1.5 mM), and milk proteins (4%). The first three antioxidants were added in the prewash or during the homogenization step, whereas milk proteins were added to the final precipitate. At time 0, all isolates were analyzed for pH, moisture content, and thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS). Selected isolates were also analyzed for lipid and protein content. Stability during ice storage was followed in terms of odor, TBARS, and color (a/b values). Extensive lipid oxidation took place using the "control" process without high-speed centrifugation. This was not significantly (p < or = 0.05) affected by a prewash or varied exposure time to pH 2.7. Including high-speed centrifugation (20 min, 10,000g) significantly (p < or = 0.05) reduced TBARS values, total lipids, a values and b values. Erythorbate alone, or in combination with STPP/EDTA, significantly (p < or = 0.05) reduced lipid oxidation during processing if added in the prewash or homogenization step. During ice storage, better stability was gained when antioxidants were added in both of these steps and when EDTA was used instead of STPP.

Development of the ETOC: a European test of olfactory capabilities.

A number of smell tests designed to evaluate human olfactory capabilities have been published, but none have been validated cross-culturally. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a reliable and quick olfactory test that could be used to evaluate efficiently the olfactory abilities of a European population. This test, named ETOC and based on a combination of a supra-threshold detection task and an identification task, was designed to be a cross-cultural tool that would measure the decline in olfactory performance with ageing. Two versions of the ETOC, one easy and one less easy, were used to test the olfactory performance of European citizens in three countries (France, Sweden and the Netherlands). The results indicated that neither version of the ETOC is culture-dependent, and that both give scores that well reflect the decrease in olfactory abilities with increasing age. A retest session showed that the less easy (and final) version of the ETOC is also highly reliable.