Consumers are interested in plant-based alternatives (PBAs) to dairy and meat products, and as such, the food industry is responding by developing a variety of different plant-based food items. For these products to be successful, their textural properties must be acceptable to consumers. These textural properties need to be thoroughly investigated using different sensory methodologies to ensure consumer satisfaction. This review paper aims to summarize the various textural properties of PBAs, as well as to discuss the sensory methodologies that can be used in future studies of PBAs. PBAs to meat have been formulated using a variety of production technologies, but these products still have textural properties that differ from animal-based products. Most dairy and meat alternatives attempt to mimic their conventional counterparts, yet sensory trials rarely compare the PBAs to their meat or dairy counterparts. While most studies rely on consumers to investigate the acceptability of their products’ textural properties, future studies should include dynamic sensory methodologies, and attribute diagnostics questions to help product developers characterize the key sensory properties of their products. Studies should also indicate whether the product is meant to mimic a conventional product and should define the target consumer segment (ex. flexitarian, vegan) for the product. The importance of textural properties to PBAs is repeatedly mentioned in the literature and thus should be thoroughly investigated using robust sensory methodologies.

Chemical irritants, like piperine, have the potential to increase human perception of tastes and odours, including saltiness. This cross-modal interaction could help the food industry develop new salt-reduced food products that maintain their salty taste. The objective of this study was: firstly, to determine the detection threshold of piperine (n = 72), secondly to evaluate piperine’s influence on saltiness perception in model solutions (n = 78), and lastly to identify piperine’s effect on sensory perception of low sodium soup using temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA; n = 75). The group mean of the individual threshold was 0.55 ± 0.15 ppm. Piperine increased the saltiness perception of the model solutions, but it also increased the bitterness and decreased the sweetness of the solutions. The piperine significantly increased the saltiness intensity of the soups (evaluated using a generalized labelled magnitude), but during the TCATA task, the salty attribute was selected less for the soup with piperine than the control (based on the average proportion of selection). The TCATA indicated that the peppery attribute dominated the participants’ perception of the soup with piperine. More studies are needed to assess piperine’s cross-modal interactions.

Chemical irritants, like piperine in pepper, have been identified to have cross‐modal interactions, including increasing the perception of saltiness. Processed foods have used cross‐modal interactions (e.g., odor and taste) to improve acceptability of salt‐reduced foods. Cross‐modal interactions between piperine and taste could be applied to increase consumer perception of saltiness in low‐sodium food products. As such the objective of this study was to determine how the addition of white pepper to low‐sodium soup affects its' sensory perception. First, the aroma detection threshold (n = 60) of white pepper was determined. Then white pepper (at detection threshold) was added to a low‐sodium soup and evaluated using hedonic scales, general labeled magnitude scale for saltiness, check‐all‐that‐apply (CATA), and temporal check‐all‐that‐apply (TCATA; n = 76). The results indicated that the saltiness intensity increased with the addition of white pepper based on the results of the general labeled magnitude scale; however, this result was not confirmed using CATA or TCATA. Rather peppery, bitterness, sourness, and strong aftertaste attributes dominated the participants' perception of the soup. The addition of white pepper also decreased the participants' overall liking of the soup as well as their liking of the flavor and texture. Future research should continue to investigate the cross‐modal interactions of white pepper.Practical Application: The food industry is acting in response to consumer concerns by reducing the salt content in their foods. Despite being a positive initiative for human health, a reduction in the salt content of foods can yield a reduction in sensory appeal and flavor intensity. This study investigated the use of white pepper to increase the saltiness perception of low‐sodium soup. The results indicated that white pepper added bitterness and strong aftertaste to the soup while simultaneously suppressing other flavors. This study also found that white pepper decreased the acceptability of the soup and indicated that white pepper may not be an ingredient that can mitigate the reduction in salt in food products.