Sugars play an important role in our daily diet, they represent a source of energy and provide appropriate sensory and technological characteristics of foods. They are divided into free and intrinsic sugars. Intrinsic sugars are those incorporated within the structure of intact fruit and vegetables and sugars from milk. Free sugars are monosaccharides and disaccharides added to food and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, during processing and preparation of food. Free sugars are also sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices. Sugars have different technological and functional properties in foods, such as sweetness, impact on taste, aroma, colour and texture, and food preservation. Dietary recommendations limit the intake of free sugars, so many other sweeteners are investigated. Sweeteners are divided into caloric and non-caloric sweeteners. Sensory analysis gives an insight into human reaction to foods with hedonic and analytical tests. In the experimental part a sensory analysis of aqueous solutions of various sugars and tea, sweetened with the same sugars: sucrose, glucose, fructose, coconut sugar and xylitol, was carried out. The sensory panel consisted of students of Food Science and Nutrition study. Students evaluated the intensity of sweet taste, likeness with the 9-point hedonic scale and ranked the samples according to the intensity of sweet taste. The results indicated that among used sugars, fructose was the sweetest one and that the aroma of tea contributes to the acceptability of the sweetened tea. Students also completed a questionnaire about consumption of sugars and sweeteners in a daily diet. The results showed that most students consume too much sugar despite being aware of the recommended amounts of daily consumed sugar and not to sweeten the beverages. Students who use other sweeteners instead of sugar, prefer sweeteners of natural origin. Their opinion is that artificial sweeteners are just as unhealthy as sugar and affect taste.
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