Sensory texture analysis of thickened liquids during ingestion

Practitioners support the use of thickened liquids for many patients with disordered swallowing. Although physical measures have highlighted differences among products there are questions about the ability of the measures to fully explain the sensory texture effects during swallowing of thickened liquids. This study used a trained sensory panel to describe the textural aspects of liquids during ingestion and swallowing. The lexicon was able to characterize differences in beverages, thickeners, and thickness levels with the most important attribute being viscosity, which loaded heavily in the almost one-dimensional space that resulted from the sensory analysis of these beverages. Other effects, such as slipperiness provided some minimal additional information on the products.

Trained sensory panelists were shown to be useful in the measurement of differences in thickened liquid products prescribed for patients with dysphagia. They were able to differentiate products based on perceived differences related to flow speed, viscosity, and other parameters suggesting their use in further studies of swallowing behavior and for development of products for disordered swallowing should be considered. Understanding how these variables might relate to clinical decision making about product selection or modification to best meet the nutritional needs of a person with disordered swallowing could be helpful. This is especially true given the difficulties in measuring texture instrumentally in these products.