Sensory acceptance of flavoured high-calcium tempeh (TempeCal) chips among women of reproductive age

Tempeh is unique because its high bioavailability enables calcium absorption that is comparable to that of milk, despite its low calcium content per serving. Fortification is therefore essential to improve its nutritional value and establish it as a viable calcium source for vegetarian diets. This study aimed to evaluate the sensory acceptability of high calcium tempeh (TempeCal) chips compared with unfortified (commercial) tempeh chips. A total of 100 women took part in an affective sensory evaluation. Three flavours of TempeCal chips (original, garlic, and spicy) and one unfortified tempeh chip were assessed for degree of liking for appearance, colour, texture, aroma, taste, and overall acceptability on a 7-point hedonic scale. TempeCal chips achieved significantly higher (p < 0.01) scores across most sensory attributes compared to unfortified chips; however, there was no significant difference in taste between the original-flavoured TempeCal variant and the unfortified control. Among the TempeCal chip variants, the spicy-flavoured chip was identified as the optimal product, as it achieved the highest acceptability index (81.57%) and provides 139.50 mg of calcium per 30 g serving. In contrast, although the original and garlic-flavoured variants also provided substantial calcium fortification, their acceptability indices remained below 70%. Future development of additional flavours may further improve consumer acceptance and promote consumption of this sustainable, calcium-rich tempeh-based snack.