Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods
Sorghum is a nutritious, healthy, gluten-free whole grain, with the United States (U.S.) leading its production globally. While sorghum is consumed worldwide, it is mainly used for animal feed and biofuel in the U.S. Organoleptic characteristics and consumers’ perceptions determine food acceptance a...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/6/1065 |
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| author | Oak-Hee Park Andrea Sosa-Holwerda Surya Raj Niraula Krithika Maki Leslie Thompson Naima Moustaid-Moussa |
| author_facet | Oak-Hee Park Andrea Sosa-Holwerda Surya Raj Niraula Krithika Maki Leslie Thompson Naima Moustaid-Moussa |
| author_sort | Oak-Hee Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sorghum is a nutritious, healthy, gluten-free whole grain, with the United States (U.S.) leading its production globally. While sorghum is consumed worldwide, it is mainly used for animal feed and biofuel in the U.S. Organoleptic characteristics and consumers’ perceptions determine food acceptance and eating behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the acceptance of and eating and purchase intentions toward sorghum-based foods among college students in a southern university in the U.S. Eighty-three students participated in a series of sensory evaluations using two sets of four sorghum samples each and a 15 min break. Seven sensory attributes were evaluated with a nine-point hedonic scale, and a five-point scale was used for eating and purchase intentions. To assess the panelists’ acceptance, the overall acceptance scale score (range: 1–9) was normalized (range: 0–100) and used for analyses. Spiced sorghum cookies (77.95 ± 14.23) had the highest acceptance, followed by sorghum shrimp grits (74.51 ± 19.42). Overall acceptance, eating intention, and purchase intention were strongly associated across all food items, although the strength differed by food type. Sorghum-based foods were accepted despite the participants’ lack of exposure to sorghum and its null consumption. These outcomes will help to develop innovative sorghum-based foods to facilitate sorghum consumption and benefit consumer health in the U.S. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1bf1a7bc680f4845a6bcb6785a06dfb8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj-art-1bf1a7bc680f4845a6bcb6785a06dfb82025-08-20T02:42:30ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-03-01146106510.3390/foods14061065Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based FoodsOak-Hee Park0Andrea Sosa-Holwerda1Surya Raj Niraula2Krithika Maki3Leslie Thompson4Naima Moustaid-Moussa5Department of Interdisciplinary Human Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Animal and Food Sciences, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79415, USADepartment of Animal and Food Sciences, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79415, USADepartment of Nutritional Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USASorghum is a nutritious, healthy, gluten-free whole grain, with the United States (U.S.) leading its production globally. While sorghum is consumed worldwide, it is mainly used for animal feed and biofuel in the U.S. Organoleptic characteristics and consumers’ perceptions determine food acceptance and eating behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the acceptance of and eating and purchase intentions toward sorghum-based foods among college students in a southern university in the U.S. Eighty-three students participated in a series of sensory evaluations using two sets of four sorghum samples each and a 15 min break. Seven sensory attributes were evaluated with a nine-point hedonic scale, and a five-point scale was used for eating and purchase intentions. To assess the panelists’ acceptance, the overall acceptance scale score (range: 1–9) was normalized (range: 0–100) and used for analyses. Spiced sorghum cookies (77.95 ± 14.23) had the highest acceptance, followed by sorghum shrimp grits (74.51 ± 19.42). Overall acceptance, eating intention, and purchase intention were strongly associated across all food items, although the strength differed by food type. Sorghum-based foods were accepted despite the participants’ lack of exposure to sorghum and its null consumption. These outcomes will help to develop innovative sorghum-based foods to facilitate sorghum consumption and benefit consumer health in the U.S.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/6/1065sorghumwhole grain intakesensory evaluationnine-point hedonic scalecollege studentsacceptance |
| spellingShingle | Oak-Hee Park Andrea Sosa-Holwerda Surya Raj Niraula Krithika Maki Leslie Thompson Naima Moustaid-Moussa Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods Foods sorghum whole grain intake sensory evaluation nine-point hedonic scale college students acceptance |
| title | Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods |
| title_full | Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods |
| title_fullStr | Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods |
| title_short | Exploring College Students’ Acceptance of and Behavioral Intentions Toward Different Sorghum-Based Foods |
| title_sort | exploring college students acceptance of and behavioral intentions toward different sorghum based foods |
| topic | sorghum whole grain intake sensory evaluation nine-point hedonic scale college students acceptance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/6/1065 |
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