ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1594589
Integrating Sensory Evaluation into Biofortification Breeding: Assessing Consumer Acceptance and Market Segmentation of Porridge from Biofortified Pearl Millet Cultivars
Provisionally accepted
- 1Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Wad Madani, Al Jazirah, Sudan
- 2College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum North, Sudan
- 3Department of Plant Breeding, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Sensory evaluation is a crucial tool in biofortified pearl millet breeding, influencing consumer acceptance and market expansion. This study aimed to evaluate the sensory attributes and consumer acceptability of stiff porridge (Aceda) prepared from biofortified pearl millet and its blends with traditional Sudanese cultivars to inform breeding and market strategies.Methods: This study was conducted in 2023 at the Gadarif Research Station, Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Sudan. It evaluated the sensory attributes of stiff porridge (Aceda) made from biofortified pearl millet (Aziz), two widely adopted Sudanese cultivars (Ashana and Bayoda), and their blended formulations. To analyze consumer segmentation and preference patterns, 28 semi-trained assessors conducted hedonic scoring and rapid descriptive profiling. The data were analyzed using internal preference mapping (IPM), panel analysis, product characterization, and partial least squares regression (PLS) using XLSTAT.The results revealed significant variation among the five Aceda products (ANOVA, F = 11.84, p < 0.001), with the Bayoda + Aziz blend receiving the highest liking score (mean = 7.7) and Aziz alone the lowest (mean = 5.8).Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 71.47% of total variation in consumer preference, while PLS regression identified taste, firmness, aroma, and texture as key drivers of acceptance. Panel analysis revealed that firmness (F = 13.22, p < 0.0001), color, and appearance exhibited the highest discriminative power among the descriptors.Short-term recommendations include blending biofortified cultivars with preferred local varieties to enhance adoption. Long-term strategies should integrate omicsenabled breeding with sensory and market-oriented selection.This study provides the first quantitative evidence of consumer sensory preferences for biofortified Aceda, emphasizing that blending strategies significantly enhance acceptability. Integrating sensory evaluation into early-stage breeding, alongside AI and rapid sensory tools, will accelerate the adoption of biofortification and support nutrition-sensitive breeding.
Keywords: consumer acceptance, Market segmentation, Sensory profiling, Biofortified foods, and pearl millet
Received: 16 Mar 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hamid, Elsafy and Abdelhalim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mohammed Elsafy, Department of Plant Breeding, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.