Consumer acceptability of infant food with oregano essencial oil by children diagnosed with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) are natural compounds extracted from plants that exhibit antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. and therefore attract interest as additives in the food industry. especially food for special populations. In the case of children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. another factor has to be considered. such as the consistency of food. This study evaluated consumer acceptability of infant food with oregano essential oil by children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and a questionnaire was applied to assess consumption habits and profile of the studied population. Samples were evaluated according to odor. flavor. color. and texture acceptability. Consumers were divided by days. with 35 children each day per sample (CONT without essential oil and EO with different concentration of oregano essential oil). Total number of children was 103. In relation to acceptability of color. odor and flavor of the CONT and EO-0.01% received higher grades. the infant food with 0.05% oregano essential oil showed lower scores compared with the other treatments. However. in relation to acceptability. all samples received satisfactory scores. In relation to texture. differences were not observed. The use of oregano essential oil could be an alternative for the development of an infant food.

Keywords:
cluster analysis; infant food acceptability; natural additives; principal components analysis; special population