Food and Fermentation Industries >

2025 , Vol. 51 >Issue 19: 355 - 365

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.042939

Non-nutritive sweeteners in Chinese milk tea:Sensory characteristics and youth consumer preferences

  • LONG Men ,
  • LIANG Bin ,
  • SUN Jiayi ,
  • YI Jiankang ,
  • ZHOU Di ,
  • ZHAN Ge
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  • 1(School of Biology and Food Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou 239000, China)
    2(Anhui Jinhe Industrial Co.Ltd., Chuzhou 239000, China)

Received date: 2025-04-07

  Revised date: 2025-05-28

  Online published: 2025-11-03

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Abstract

With the increasing health consciousness among consumers, the market demand for low/no-sucrose milk tea has grown significantly.Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) provide sweetness without calories and serve as primary sugar substitutes.This study investigated the effects of NNS formulations on milk tea sensory characteristics and young consumers’ preferences, combining Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and consumer acceptance testing.PanelCheck software assessed the performance of an 8-member QDA panel and the sensory profiles of products.ConsumerCheck software visualized liking score distributions of 69 young consumers using box plots and stacked histograms.Preference mapping analysis linked QDA data to consumer preferences.Results show consumer preferences are driven by odor of milk, odor of tea, sweet odor, sweet taste and smooth mouthfeel.The synergistic combination of erythritol, sucralose, and stevioside improves sweetness perception and increases acceptance among young consumers.The sensory profile of the milk tea formulation matched high-fructose corn syrup at 55-60 ℃.These findings offer theoretical support and practical strategies for optimizing low/no-sucrose milk tea formulations and marketing.

Key words： non-nutritive sweeteners; milk tea; quantitative descriptive analysis; consumer acceptance testing; PanelCheck; ConsumerCheck

Cite this article

LONG Men , LIANG Bin , SUN Jiayi , YI Jiankang , ZHOU Di , ZHAN Ge . Non-nutritive sweeteners in Chinese milk tea:Sensory characteristics and youth consumer preferences[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2025 , 51(19) : 355 -365 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.042939

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