Because of the increased demand for low calorie products, more products are being sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Perceived sweetness may be affected by other food ingredients, such as hydrocolloids. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of xanthan gum, carboxymethyicellulose-low, and carboxymethylcellulose-medium on the attributes of a lemon flavored beverage sweetened with an artificial sweetener. Each hydrocolloid was added to the beverages to attain the following viscosities - 10 cps, 15 cps, and 20 Ctps. The table top formulations of artificial sweeteners used to sweeten the beverage samples were Sweet One® (contains acesulfame-K) and Equal® (contains aspartame). A modified Quantitative Descriptive Analysis method was used as the sensory evaluation technique to determine the intensity of sourness, sweetness, lemon flavor, bitterness, and aftertaste in the beverages of varying viscosities.

In the samples containing Sweet One®, CMC-L increased sweetness whereas in the samples containing Equal®, sweetness first decreased significantly before increasing with increasing viscosity. CMC-M did not Significantly affect the sweetness of either sweetener although it tended to decrease the sweetness of Equal®. CMC-L and CMC-M decreased lemon flavor and sourness in the samples with both sweeteners; CMC-L decreased the intensity of these attributes more than CMC-M. The only significant change caused by the addition of xanthan gum to the beverages was a decrease in the sweetness of the samples sweetened with Equal®. Xanthan gum affected the attributes of the lemon flavored beverages the least whereas CMC-L had the greatest effect on the attributes.