Cristina Proserpio

• PostDoc Position at University of Milan

This study investigated sensory properties and acceptability of different Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) dry-cured hams. For each PDO, two genotypes were selected: ILxLW cross (reference hybrid) and Goland cross (commercial hybrid). According to descriptive analysis genetic variance affected few attributes describing Toscano and San Daniele...

Recent evidence has suggested that factors related to sensory perception may explain excess weight. The objective of this study was to consider multiple aspects while investigating the phenomenon of obesity. One goal was to compare taste acuity (taste threshold and density of fungiform papillae) in both normal weight and obese subjects. Thresholds...

The effects of variation in odors and thickening agents on sensory properties and acceptability of a model custard dessert were investigated in normal weight and obese women. Subjects rated their liking and the intensity of sensory properties (sweetness, vanilla and butter flavors, and creaminess) of 3 block samples (the first varied in vanilla aro...

Child food preferences influence food choice and consumption. Thus, understanding the factors leading to the development of food likes and dislikes is important for enhancing nutritional healthy diets. This study was aimed to investigate children's acceptance of, and preferences for, three different trout formulations served at school lunch. Liking...

In recent years, research on taste perception has increasingly focused on its influence on food consumption, preferences, and long-term health. While bitter and sweet tastes have been well-studied, less is known about salty and umami tastes and their effects on dietary habits. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring sensory-hedonic patter...

Large amounts of money, time and effort are devoted to sensory and consumer research in food and beverage companies in an attempt to maximize the chances of new products succeeding in the marketplace. Many new products fail due to lack of consumer interest. Answers to what causes this and what can be done about it are complex and remain unclear. Th...

This study investigated the effects of salty and sugary Former Foodstuff Products (FFPs) on the quality traits and meat composition of 36 male castrated pigs (Swiss Large White breed) as well as sensory characteristics of the loins. The animals were fed three different diets for both the growing (G) and finishing (F) phases: (1) a standard diet (ST...

Sweetness has been proposed to be an important quality in the decision to consume alcohol, and strong preferences for sweet tastes have been associated with alcohol abuse. However, alcohol is characterized by a number of other sensory properties, including astringency and bitterness that may drive preference and consumption. Spinelli et al. (2021)...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of a Sangiovese wine aged in barrique with the addition of an unripe grape extract (UGE) as an alternative to sulfur dioxide. Three samples were considered: control wine (TQ) with free SO2 of approximately 15 mg/L; sample A with chitosan (100 mg/L) and U...

In recent years, increasing attention has been addressed to buckwheat, an interesting minor crop with an excellent nutritional profile that contributes to the sustainability and biodiversity of the agri-food system. However, the high content of rutin and quercitin present in this pseudocereal can elicit undesirable sensory properties, such as bitte...

Agrobiodiversity conservation includes strategies and actions to be taken to prevent landrace loss, a worldwide problem. Landraces are local varieties that have agricultural, cultural, and historical value but most of these are not studied yet. This research aimed to study the nutritional and phytochemical characteristics of the “Copafam” bean. In...

The aim of this study was to define the desirable sensory and the mechanical properties that a bread targeting elderly consumers should have, and to understand whether the products currently present in the Italian market meet the desired requirements. Ten types of commercial bread having different formulations and manufacturing processes were chara...

Background: We aimed to assess whether stress, boredom, drinking motives, and/or inhibitory control were related to alcohol use during a period of social isolation. Method: Analyses were carried out on questionnaire data (N = 337) collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (7 April–3 May 2020). We first assessed changes in drinking be...

The aim of this study was to characterise a large and heterogeneous Italian wine sample applying the Rate-All-That-Apply method (RATA) with semi-trained judges. Twelve judges evaluated 46 samples including white, red, rosé and sparkling wines in two replicates. Judges were asked to select from a list of descriptors all the sensations that described...

This study investigated the impact of seed coats from peas (PC) and chickpeas (CC) (at 15% and 30% levels) on rice-based co-extruded snacks. Using PC and CC reduced the content of soluble (29%) and cell-wall bound phenolic acids (21%), but it enhanced the amount and the profile of flavonoids of rice-based snacks (up to 16 times with PC), resulting...

Life expectancy has increased worldwide and the elderly population is expected to reach two billion in 2050. Lifestyle and diet have a great impact on the prevalence of malnutrition and diseases. Specific nutrition for the elderly has been identified as one of the rising world's challenges. The development of specifically tailored foods for the eld...

Tartary buckwheat is a pseudocereal receiving increasing attention as a minor crop interesting for agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainability. It is rich in bioactive substances which, however, may lead to sensory properties undesirable to the consumer, such as bitterness and astringency. The aim was to evaluate consumers' perception and over...

This study assessed physicochemical parameters of high fibre and gluten‐free breads made with teff and associated flours. Four breads samples were developed: wheat flour (T1), teff flour (T2), teff flour + cassava starch + rice flour (T3 and T4). Hedonic evaluation of sensory attributes characterising the samples was performed by coeliac and non‐co...

The adolescence period is characterized by a considerable risk to weight gain due to the high consumption of food rich in sugar. A promising strategy to reduce sugar consumption may lie in exploiting the ability of our senses to interact to each other (cross-modal interactions). The aims were to investigate the cross-modal interactions and gustator...

Unripe grapes (UGs) are a waste product of grapevine cultivation and an emerging source of several compounds, such as organic acids, phenolic compounds, vitamins and mineral salts, of great economic importance to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. Traditionally, products made from UGs, such as verjuice and sour grape sauces, have bee...

The use of phenol compounds obtained from unripe grapes as antioxidant sustainable food ingredients is challenging due to their specific sensory attributes, such as sourness and astringency. The aim was to evaluate sensory attributes perception and consumers' liking for beetroot purees added with phenols from unripe grapes. According to hedonic res...

Juice‐pressing residues, among them blackcurrant pomace, are valuable materials for being upgraded in food products. Their excellent nutritional profiles in line with their functional properties allow a wide range of applications. The current study was performed to evaluate the overall liking of a pomace‐enriched thin crispy‐baked bread product in...

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate technological parameters of high fiber and gluten-free breads made with teff (Eragrostis tef) and associated flours. Methods Four formulations were evaluated: T1, without teff (100% wheat flour- standard); T2, with 100% teff flour; T3, with 75% teff flour, 12.5% rice flour, and 12.5% cassava starch, and T4,...

The consumption of phenol-rich foods is limited by their prominent bitterness and astringency. This issue has been addressed by adding sweet tastes, which suppress bitterness, but this is not a complete solution since individuals also differ in their preference for sweetness. In this study, we aimed at identifying groups of consumers differing in s...

Among factors influencing food preferences and choices, individual differences in taste perception play a key role in defining eating behaviour. In particular, sour and bitter responsiveness could be associated with the acceptance and the consumption of phenol-rich plant-based foods recommended for a healthy diet. The aim of this study was to inves...

The impact of using legume flour and bran on both sensory and texture properties in extruded, sustainable snack formulations was investigated. Sensory attributes determining consumer preference or rejection of legume-based snacks, as well as food neophobia and food technology neophobia were also explored. Seven samples of extruded snacks (R = 100%...

Alcoholic beverage consumption plays an important role in European culture, and in many contexts drinking alcohol is socially acceptable and considered part of the diet. Understanding the determinants of alcohol preference and consumption is important not only for disease prevention, intervention, and policy management, but also for market segmenta...

One of the food industry’s priorities is to recover byproducts and move towards more sustainable systems. Among wine-chain byproducts, unripe grapes represent a promising source of antioxidants. However, the development of new foods enriched using phenol-rich ingredients is challenging due to their sensory attributes. The aims of the present study...

The innate liking of fats may be due to one or more orosensory, post-ingestive, and metabolic signals; however, individuals differ in their preference for fat in meat. One of the variables that mainly impacts eating behaviors and thus should be carefully analyzed is sex/gender, and while sex (female/male, in a binary approximation) refers only to b...

The aim of this study was to develop a value chain approach to address the need for sustainable vitamin D2 food sources. A combined process of UV-irradiation and air-drying was used to produce a Pleurotus ostreatus powder with a target amount of vitamin D2 as an ingredient for functional foods. The kinetics of vitamin D2 degradation was studied as...

Vitamin D2 deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient insufficiencies among children. Few foods, mainly those derived from animal sources, naturally contain this vitamin. The basidiomycete mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus could be used as an innovative and sustainable ingredient for food fortification with vitamin D2. This study was aimed at ex...

Texture has an important role in children’s acceptance and rejection of food. However, little is known about individual differences in texture preference. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a child-friendly tool to explore individual differences in texture preferences in school-aged children from six European countries (Austria, Finl...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate adolescents’ acceptability of a novel flat bread modified by substituting a part of the wheat flour content with a Pleurotus ostreatus powder rich in β-glucans, which can potentially provide health benefits. The effects of food technology neophobia and adolescents’ food habits on hedonic perception of th...

Pleurotus ostreatus is an edible mushroom with interesting nutritional properties, which is able to grow on agri‐food waste and could in turn be used as an ingredient for food fortification. However, new food products have to face with the growing consumer consciousness about what they eat and hedonic responses, which represent a key factor in dete...

Food odors are important in food perception not only during consumption, but also in anticipation of food. Even though it is well established that smell is involved in eating behavior, its role in affecting actual food consumption is still unclear, especially in morbidly obese subjects, who are reported to be more affected by sensory cues than lean...

The purpose of the current study, was to apply and validate the factor structure of the Health and Taste Attitude Scales in an Italian adult sample of 1224 subjects, recruited on a national basis in order to characterise consumers’ food-related attitudes with weak and strong connotations of health and taste. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor...

The aim of the present study was to investigate how food technology neophobia level, socio‐economic variables and information about novel foods and technologies may affect consumers’ attitude towards uses of food by‐products in relation to positive effects on environment and consumers’ health. Results suggested that education and, most of all food...

The aim of the present study was to apply the Check-all-that-apply (CATA) method in an ambulatory context involving subjects with phenylketonuria (PKU) to obtain a sensory description and to find the drivers of liking of low-phenylalanine products (Glycomacropeptide vs. L-amino acids formulas). 86 subjects with PKU (age range: 8–55 years) evaluated...

The basidiomycetes fungi belonging to the genus Pleurotus could make an important contribution to sustainable functional food design because they possess an elevated protein content with a valuable essential amino acid scoring pattern, a unique dietary fibre profile, mainly comprised of branched β-glucan, high levels of some vitamins of the B group...

The aim of the present study is to explore the association between food neophobia and chemosensory responsiveness and to determine whether this association translates into different food liking and preference patterns. Data were collected on 1225 respondents (61% females, age 20-60 years) as part of the Italian Taste project. Respondents completed...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between two well-established markers of taste perception, 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness and fungiform papillae number, in obese and healthy-weight subjects. The association between taste responsiveness and food neophobia attitude was evaluated to understand if these varia...

The aim of the study was to investigate the willingness of Italian consumers to adopt insects, suitable candidates for providing sustainable animal proteins, as part of animal and human diets. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of information about the benefit of introducing insects into the diet on consumers' acceptance. The results showed that...