Exploring directions for the development of a bread targeting elderly consumers

Life expectancy has increased worldwide and the elderly population is expected to reach two billion in 2050. Lifestyle and diet present an impact on the prevalence of malnutrition and chronical diseases. Specific nutrition for elderly has been identified as one of the rising world's challenges, leading to a growing interest in healthy and active aging. The market is always looking for innovation to provide products targeted at older consumers to satisfy their sensory and nutritional needs and calling for a multidisciplinary approach is pivotal to this aim. The new challenge is the development of an ideal product for elderly people, and bread is of particular interest for the food industry as a traditional staple food. The aim of this study was to define the desirable sensory characteristics as well as the mechanical properties that a bread targeting elderly consumers should have, and to understand whether the products currently present in the Italian market meet their expectations. In this regards, eleven samples of commercial bread having different formulations and manufacturing processes were assessed for mechanical and physical properties. To identify drivers of liking and possible directions for product reformulation, 76 healthy elderly evaluated the liking and the sensory characteristics of bread samples using a Check-All-That-Apply method. Moreover, subjects were asked to define all the appropriate terms to describe their ideal bread. Acquired results pointed out that sensory evaluations overlap well texture and colour parameters, and moisture content of samples. Overall, Italian commercial bread mean liking scores were low, with more than half of the products remaining below the acceptability. In this regard, chewy and saltless descriptors corresponded to poor elderly’ satisfaction, meanwhile the ideal product should have homemade appearance, odor and flavor of bread, crusty and crumbly texture and should be easy to chew and swallow. Among samples tested the ideal bread was positioned between a traditional Italian bread with a crispy texture and a rustic loaf with homemade appearance, both containing wheat flour. This study is a useful tool to define the desirable sensory properties of elderly population, in order to design a bread targeting elderly consumers.