The extract of stevia leaves (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is the only sweetener utilized in sucrose substitution which can be produced totally in Brazil. The objective of this study, was determine the temporal characteristic of sweet and bitter taste of stevia and compare with sucrose at 3 and 10% in the same equi-sweet. The time-intensity curves (T-I) for each substance were collected through the software "Sistema de Coleta de Dados Tempo-Intensidade - SCDTI" for Windows, where the judges recorded through of "mouse" the perception of each stimuli inside function of time, for each sample. The parameters of T-I curves collected were: time for intensity maxim (TImax), intensity maxim (Imax), time of decay (Td), time of plato (Platô), area under curve (Area) and total time of stimuli duration (Ttot). The parameters Td, Ttot, Area e Plato of T-I curves, for stimuli sweet in both sweetness level, were significativelly superior for stevia, while Timax e Imax were significativelly inferior (p<FONT FACE="Symbol">£</font>0,05), at differences between value for both substances were superior DESS at 10%. Sucrose didn’t present any record for simuli bitter as 3 as 10%, while stevia presented a characteristic T-I curve with intensity and total time of stimuli duration dependent of concentration.
time-intensity analysis; stevia; sensory analysis
