Uncovering the sensory properties of commercial and experimental clean label almond milks

Almond milk is the largest category of plant-based milk alternatives in the United States, and it is manufactured by suspending ground almond paste in water. Nevertheless, this method limits the amount of almonds that can be added to almond milk, and most almond milks on the market have low protein despite almonds themselves being nutritionally dense. The use of sustainable aqueous and enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction processes offers an alternative method for producing almond milks with enhanced nutritional content. However, it is currently unclear how the sensory properties of such milks compare to those of commercial almond milks. In this study, we conducted a sensory descriptive analysis with 14 trained panelists on 12 commercial almond milk samples and 14 formulated ones (seven aqueous and seven enzyme-assisted aqueous extracted milks). The purpose of this study was to understand how sensorially diverse commercial almond milks are, as well as to determine how aqueous and enzyme-assisted aqueous extracted almond milks compare to commercial methods. We found that formulated samples were significantly different from commercial products, and that all commercial products could be distinguished from each other. Furthermore, commercial milks were more differentiated than were formulated samples. Given the sensory diversity of almond milks on the market, this study suggests that there is potential for introducing new products in the almond milk category. Finally, this study also showed that descriptive analysis can be successfully conducted with two distinct groups of products in the same panel. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The almond milk category is highly diverse in terms of sensory characteristics, presenting opportunities to develop new products that offer unique sensory experiences distinct from those of existing products.