The Effects of Both Chewing Rate and Chewing Duration on Temporal Flavor Perception

INTRODUCTION: Previous research showed that the number of chews has been shown to influence flavor perception in crispy potato chips. This study aimed to further determine how the number of chews modulates the temporal dynamics of flavor perception (i.e., flavor development) in potato chips. METHODS: The number of chews was manipulated not only by changing chewing rate (40, 80, and 120 chews/min) for a fixed swallowing time (at 25 s after the onset of the first bite; experiment 1), but also by changing the time to swallow (10, 20, and 30 s after the onset of the first bite) for a constant chewing rate (80 chews/min; experiment 2). RESULTS: In experiment 1, the time-intensity (TI) analysis showed that the maximum flavor intensity (Imax) and the area under the curve (AUC) were significantly higher for the medium (80 chews/min) and fast (120 chews/min) chewing rates than for the slow (40 chews/min) chewing rate in both plain and spicy flavored chips. In experiment 2, the temporal flavor perception was altered by the interaction between the chewing duration before swallowing and the flavor type of the potato chips. More specifically, in the natural chewing rate, while the Imax and AUC of spicy flavored chips were the greatest when the bolus was swallowed after the natural chewing-duration (for 20 s), the AUC of plain flavored chips was significantly greater in the longer chewing-duration (for 30 s) than the natural chewing-duration. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports and extends the notion that the number of chews, and corresponding parameters such as chewing rate and duration, affect temporal flavor perception in the plain and spicy flavored potato chips. IMPLICATIONS: Our findings show that flavor intensity of plain and spicy potato chips can be reduced when people chew the chips slowly and/or swallow quickly.