Natural color becomes the first sensory perception in food and improves consumers' acceptability. To this aim, the commercial saffron (Crocus sativus L.) extract affroneye can be directly used in cold dishes due to the follow advantages: absence of microbial load, easily soluble in water and with homogeneous colorant properties due to the presence of the carotenoids crocins which are standardized in all batches by high performance liquid chromatography. In this work two different cold desserts were prepared, employing saffron stigmas or affroneye to study the improvement of their sensory properties and final presentation. The cold recipe prepared with affroneye showed significantly better taste (F = 6.1, p < 0.05) and acceptability by the consumers (F = 7.5, p < 0.05), compared to the recipe with saffron stigmas. The new affroneye extract contributed to this improvement because it is easier and much more precise for dosage control, more safety (free of microorganisms), homogenizes sensory attributes, and therefore the consumer's acceptability.

Peer Reviewed