Sweeteners in solution, although in the same equivalence of sweetness, can show sensorial characteristics that make them individually different one of the other ones. The present study had as objective to accomplish Quantitative Descriptive Analysis of aspartame solutions (APM), extract of stevia leaves (SrB) and a mixture of cyclamate/saccharin 2:1 (C/S), in different levels of sweetness, that is to say, in equivalence of sweetness to a sucrose solution for 3, 10, 20 and 30%. Eleven judges pre-selected through sequential analysis were tended as their approach discrimination abilities, were trained after the rising of the descriptive terminology. After the training, judges were selected through their discriminative power, reproducibility and agreement with the team in the use of scales. The descriptive terms of the sweeteners, for all the levels of sweetness, generated through Kelly's Repertory Grid Method, were: initial sweetness, sweetness aftertaste, bitter initial, bitter aftertaste, licorice aftertaste and body. The results obtained for each level of sweetness were analyzed through analysis of variance, Tukey's tests and Component Principal Analysis. The descriptive analysis was effective in characterizing the sensorial profile of the sweeteners at different concentrations, showing the changes in the profile with the increase of their concentrations.
sweeteners; aspartame; stevia; cyclamate; saccharin; quantitative descriptive analysis
