Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage produced by yeast action on a diluted solution of honey. In this study, for the first time, sensory acceptance, purchase intention and color parameters of potentially probiotic mead with Saccharomyces boulardii were evaluated. The mead with S. boulardii presented yeast counts higher than 106 CFU/mL, being considered potentially probiotic, and tended to be yellow in color. About 160 tasters participated in the sensory evaluation, and 69.38% knew mead, but only 35.62% had tried the beverage. In terms of acceptance, the mead were within the acceptable range (above 5), and F2 (with initial soluble solids of 30° Brix and S. boulardii concentration of 0.030 g/L) was the most accepted, with an overall average of 7.63 ± 1.42 on the nine-point hedonic scale. In addition, F2 presented the highest purchase intention. In conclusion, the mead showed a tendency towards the color yellow and good sensory acceptance.
Keywords: Acceptance; Beverages; Probiotic yeast; Sensory analysis.
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