Persimmon milkshakes with enhanced functionality: Understanding consumers' perception of the concept and sensory experience of a functional food

Persimmon is a good source of antioxidant compounds, such as carotenoids and tannins but it cannot be consumed throughout the whole year because it is a seasonal fruit. Therefore, it would be useful to prolong its shelf life producing food products with high nutritional value. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) represents an alternative to pasteurisation in order to preserve and extend the shelf life. In this work six different persimmon milkshakes were studied varying the type of milk (whole and skimmed) and the treatment of the persimmon (untreated, HHP-treated and pasteurised). The sensory characteristics of persimmon milkshakes with enhanced functional properties and their liking were studied, and these findings were related with the consumers' health and taste related attitudes. Results showed that consumers perceived persimmon milkshakes as a high antioxidant beverage. Milkshakes with HHP-treated persimmon, regardless the type of milk and with untreated persimmon and whole milk were scored with the highest overall liking. So, treating persimmon by HHP makes it possible to formulate persimmon milkshakes with high nutritional value and high acceptability despite of the seasonality of the fruit. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.