Measurement of saliva volume in the mouth of members of a trained sensory panel using a beetroot (Beta vulgaris) extract

The volume of saliva in the mouth of sensory panelists was measured by a dilution assay using a freshly prepared beetroot extract as probe solution. An aliquot of the extract absorbing linearly at 531-nm (probe) was placed in the mouth, mixed with saliva and returned to a clean container within a period of time shorter than the one spanning a single swallowing cycle. Beetroot pigments were neither partitioned into sub-fractions of saliva nor...