The aim of this study was to evaluate the gustatory stimuli sweet, bitter, sour and acerola flavor of acerola nectar using the time-intensity method and identify the parameters of the time-intensity curve affecting product acceptance. Sucrose, sucralose, neotame, and stevia extracts with 40%, 60%, 80% and 95% Rebaudioside A were used to sweeten the samples. Twelve assessors participated in the time-intensity analysis and a hundred and twenty consumers evaluated the overall impression. Sample sweetened with neotame showed greater intensity and duration for the sweet stimulus. With respect to the bitter stimulus, the samples containing different stevia extracts presented the highest intensity and stimulus duration, evidencing the bitter aftertaste. The time-intensity curves for the sour stimulus were very similar. The time-intensity curves for acerola flavor stimulus were similar too, but the sample sweetened with stevia extract 95% Rebaudioside A showed low-intensity stimulus, whereas samples containing sucrose and sucralose exhibited the greatest stimulus duration. The parameters total duration and area under the curve of the bitter stimulus negatively affected the acceptance of acerola nectar1577687COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESSem informaçã
