Assessment of tomato‐based thick fluid diet for patients with dysphagia using a simple and cheap test
2021
Maieves, Helayne Aparecida | Teixeira, Gerson Lopes
Swallowing difficulty, also known as dysphagia, is a health condition that can be managed by different approaches, such as changing the viscosity of fluid foods with thickener agents. Tomato‐based beverages such as “gazpacho” and “salmorejo” are common foods much appreciated by the populations that adopt a Mediterranean diet, mainly in Spain. These beverages usually present a low viscosity, challenging to include in diets for dysphagia patients. Thus, this work aimed at evaluating the flow properties of tomato‐based beverages with or without the addition of thickener agents (based on maltodextrin or gum) using a simple and cheap method proposed by the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative (IDDSI) to verify the suitability of using those products in a diet of patients with dysphagia. The study also evaluated the differences in using BD‐type syringes on the test. Results indicated that the type of thickener significantly (p < .05) affects the samples' flow properties, enhancing their rheological behavior. The type of syringe can also affect the results, as they present different Luer slip tips. The results revealed that tomato‐based beverages may have their properties improved simply by using low amounts of thickener agents (1.2–3.0 g 200 ml⁻¹) and that the IDDSI test can be an alternative, cheap and straightforward method for evaluating these types of foods in hospital environments. Including tomato‐based beverages in the diet of patients with dysphagia may present many benefits as these products have a rich nutritional composition (fiber) in addition to biocompounds such as lycopene and phenolic compounds.
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