Sabine PUGET 1,2; Noëlle BENO 1; Lucie HUAULT 1; Claire CHABANET 1;
Elisabeth GUICHARD 1; Thierry THOMAS-DANGUIN 1

1 Unité Mixte de Recherches FLAVIC : INRA-ENESAD-UB, 17 rue Sully, 21000 Dijon, France
2 Lyonnaise des Eaux, 11 place Edouard VII, 75009 PARIS, France

For water suppliers, using chlorine is necessary to ensure water bacteriological quality from the treatment plant to the consumers’ tap. However chlorine flavour is one of the mostnimportant complaints addressed against tap water. Therefore, it is important for the water industry to understand the sensory mechanisms implied in chlorine flavour perception and especially the link between chlorine sensitivity and drinking water consumption habits. In a
series of experiments, we set out to determine the chemosensory dimensions of chlorine flavour and whether chlorine sensitivity could be a driver for tap water rejection.

A group of 20 tap water consumers and a group of 20 non-consumers participated to 8 sensory sessions. During the first two sessions, in-water chlorine flavour threshold was evaluated for each panellist. In the third session consumers rated intensity, preference and acceptability of suprathreshold chlorine solutions. During the fifths remaining sessions, we measured gustatory, olfactory and trigeminal sensitivity towards chlorine of each panellist.

The results revealed that chlorine flavour in water may rely on the activation of the olfactory and trigeminal systems but not on the gustatory system. Tap water non-consumers were found to have a lower preference for chlorinated solutions and were also less incline to accept chlorinated water as drinking water. However, tap water non-consumers were not found to be more sensitive to the trigeminal dimension of chlorine flavour which suggests that consumers may reject chlorine flavour on the basis of their tap water representation only.

Key words:

flavour, consumer behaviour, detection thresholds, preference, acceptability, tap water, trigeminal perception