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Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 6(12), pp. 2514-2519, 30 March, 2012
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR
DOI: 10.5897/JMPR12.042
ISSN 1996-0875 ©2012 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Palatability perception of herbal teas: Impact of
extraction time and saccharose
Ain Raal* and Vallo Matto
Department of Pharmacy, University of Tartu, Nooruse 1, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
Accepted 10 February, 2012
The herbal teas have been used as remedies for centuries, but they are believed to be a priori
unpalatable. The palatability of 43 different herbal teas and the effect of the extraction time and a
sweetener (saccharose) on the taste perception of 31 or 25 herbal teas respectively, were evaluated
using the 5 point palatability scale. The palatability scores of the herbal teas varied to a great extent
(from 1.03 to 4.64) but as a general trend the unpalatable teas were considered as distasteful by the
majority of subjects and the scores given to the palatable teas were divergent. The prolongation of the
extraction time from 10 to 45 min had only a very limited effect toward the unpalatableness that effect
was even not found for all herbal teas. While the effect of the saccharose univocally improved the taste
but magnitude of this phenomenon was also moderate. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates
that the favorable palatability but not distastefulness of the herbal teas strongly depends on the taste
perception of the subject, and the time of extraction or addition of saccharose have only a minor effect
on the palatability score of herbal teas.
Key words: Medicinal plants, herbal teas, palatability, extraction time, saccharose, organoleptic analyze.
INTRODUCTION
Perception of taste is an evolutionary preserved
physiological mechanism to evaluate the food and drink
quality (Yarmolinsky, 2009). There are numerous
research works focused on the food taste and palatability,
particularly in the context of food processing/preservation
(van Boekel et al., 2010) or obesity issues (Yeomans,
2004). Contrary, far not so much attention has been paid
on the gustatory aspects or sensations associated with
the intake of nutritional supplies or remedies produced
from natural sources. Orally administered medications
derived from medicinal plants have been used for
centuries to treat various diseases and ailments. Despite
the fact that the modern pharmaceutical industry relies on
chemical synthesis, the utilization of natural medicines is
an increasing trend both in developed and source limited
countries. For convenient daily administration, herbs of
medicinal plants are frequently used in the form of teas,
tisanes, decocts, or infusions However, the herbal teas
are believed to be a priori unpalatable, while the
*Corresponding author. E-mail: ain.raal@ut.ee. Tel.: +372 737
5281. Fax : +372 737 5289.
sensations of astringency or bitterness may limit their use
(Boon and Smith, 2004). The neural pathways of
gustatory sensations are sufficiently determined (Jones et
al., 2006), nevertheless, the perception of palatability of
certain foods or drinks remains partially emotional.
The present open study aimed to characterize the
subjective sensory perception of palatability of various
herbal teas and to evaluate the effect of extraction time or
the use of the saccharose as a sweetener in the
preference of herbal teas.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant material and preparation of herbal teas
All medicinal plants were collected by pharmacy students either
from natural habitats or from special medicinal plant fields of
Estonia. The plants were carefully cleaned on-spot and marked. In
laboratory conditions, the plants were identified again using the
taxonomic guide (Kukk and Kull, 2005), divided into organs and
dried in a dark room at room temperature (22 ± 2ºC) for ten days.
The dried herbs were labeled, packaged in a paper-bag, and stored
at ambient temperature (22 ± 2°C) in a dark and dry stora ge room
until tested. The voucher specimens of the tested plants are stored
at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Tartu, Estonia.