NUT 4202: RECIPE

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

Sensory Evaluation
 Sensory evaluation is a scientific discipline that applies principles of
experimental design and statistical analysis to the use of human senses (sight,
smell, taste, touch and hearing) for the purposes of evaluating consumer
products.
 It requires panels of human assessors, on whom the products are tested, and
recording the responses made by them. By applying statistical techniques to
the results it is possible to make inferences and insights about the products
under test.
 Sensory analysis is applicable to a variety of areas such as; inspection of raw
materials, product development, product improvement, cost reduction, quality
control, selection of packaging material, shelf life/storage studies, establishing
analytical/instrument/sensory relationship and process development.
 For all sensory assessment methods, humans are the measuring instrument. In
order for a sensory assessment to provide reliable and valid results, the
sensory panel must be treated as a scientific instrument; that is, members of
the panel must be screened, calibrated and validated.
 Selection of Panel Members
 Sensory evaluation involves evaluation of products or materials by
people (respondents/panel members/panelists) with/without the
assistance of technology. Thus it is important that these persons
be:
 • Screened to eliminate for example personal prejudice, preference
and acceptability to ensure an objective evaluation and
differentiation between and description of product characteristics.
 • Participants (panelists) be trained to perform analytical
(laboratory) sensory evaluation procedures repeatedly and are
audited and evaluated to ensure that their determinations are
consistent.
 • Selected to be representative (target market) consumers
(respondents).
 Selection of Sensory Test and Statistical Evaluation
 It is important to select the correct test method in sensory
evaluation. The selection of a test method depends on:
 1. Test aims - Sensory evaluation provides the following types
of information that pertains to the different test aims:
 • Discriminative information - determination of differences
between products/samples.
 • Descriptive information - focus on the description of
products/samples. This information can be correlated with other
forms of analysis such as chemical results etc. and
 • Consumer information - focus on consumer preference,
acceptance, liking etc. of one product over another. Ranking of
one or more products or rating of products in a range (by
consumers), can also be the aim.
 Continuation
 2. The sequence of events - It is important to follow the correct procedure to
identify the required method or test. A sequence of events can be used as a
guideline during any phase of the product development process to prevent
unnecessary and time-consuming testing:
 • Perform ‘bench-top’ analysis - to determine the characteristics of the
product, the necessity of testing and the test required.
 • Determine whether there is a visible difference between products
 • If there is a discernible difference - determine whether the difference is
significant through discriminative tests such as the paired comparison,
triangle, duo trio or ranking tests.
 • If the differences between products or samples are significant, determine the
intensity regarding relevant attributes, through magnitude estimation, using a
ratio/intensity scale with reference samples.
 • Determine which product is preferred and/or liked by consumers -
representative consumers evaluate the samples using paired preference tests,
hedonic scaling or ranking.
 • Obtain a summary of the characteristics of the sample or specific attributes
and the relevant intensities – this will require trained panelists for Descriptive
Analysis techniques such as Quantitative Descriptive Analysis.
 Cont.
 3. The use of a decision tree - for example the branched model
proposed by Lawless and Heymann, 1998, where the answer to
a pertinent question leads to the identification of the most
suitable test.
 Sensory Testing
 Sensory testing involves the inspection of a product by the senses
i.e. sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing for various quality
attributes like appearance, flavor, aroma, texture and sound.
 1. Appearance
Appearance is the first characteristics perceived by the human senses
and play an important role in the identification and final selection of
food. This is the visual perception of food comprised of color, shape,
size, gloss, dullness and transparency. The appearance of a meal have
shown impact on appetite stimulation or depression resulting in
pleasure or total depression. The look of a food or beverage impacts
craveability and acceptance, before the product touches the lips. This
is because we eat with our eyes before we ever smell or taste.
 Cont.
2. Flavor
It is sensory phenomenon which is used to denote the sensations of
odor and taste. Flavoring substances are aromatic compounds which
are conceived by the combination of taste and odor and perceived by
the mouth and nose. Odor improves the delight of eating e.g. aroma
of freshly cooked rice and most of the baked products. Taste helps in
identification, acceptance and appreciation of food. It is perceived
by the taste buds on the tongue. There are four types of taste
perception: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Sour and bitter are often
confused. Lemon juice has a sour taste whereas coffee has a bitter
taste. In case of mouthfeel, nerves present inside the mouth are
enthused by chemical or thermal responses e.g. coldness of ice
cream or the fiery impression of pepper.
 Cont.
 3. Aroma
Aroma is related to taste. These are volatile compounds which are
perceived by the odor receptors of olfactory tissues of the nasal
cavity. Aromatic compounds are released during the mastication
process. Smell appraises the aroma of food that is important in the
gratitude of flavor. A pleasant smell makes food delicious. To
provoke a sensation of smell, the stuff must be in a gassy state.
Furthermore, aroma is valuable in perceiving fresh, rancid or
intermittently poisonous food.
 Cont.
4. Texture
Texture is perceived by a combination of senses i.e. touch,
mouthfeel, sight and hearing. It is one of the most
imperative feature of a food. Texture is prerequisite in the
acceptance of numerous foodstuffs e.g. tenderness of meat
and softness of bread. It also include the consistency,
thickness, fragility, chewiness and the size and shape of
particles in food
 Cont.
5. Sound
 Hearing deliberates the sounds made by food during
preparation and ingesting e.g. the crackle of fried food,
the effervescence of drinks, the cracking of hard biscuits.
So, in sensory analysis, the senses are used to measure,
analyse and interpret the organoleptic or sensory
properties of food.
Sensory Characteristics and Appropriate Vocabulary
Sense Characteristics Word Bank
Sight Appearance –colour, Appetising, colourful,
size,shape,transparenc grainy, foamy, greasy,
y, dullness, gloss shiny,stringy,
crystalline

Smell Aroma – flavour, Aromatic, floral, rotten,

aromatics acrid, musty,
fragrant,scented,
pungent

Taste Flavour - odour, mouth Sweet, cool, bitter,

feel and taste –sweet, zesty, hot, tangy, sour,
salt, sour, bitter sharp, rich, salty
Hearing Sound – intensity and Bubbling, crunchy,
quality fizzy, sizzling
Touch Texture, mouth feel Brittle, rubbery, gritty,
bubbly, sandy, tender,
soft
 Sub-sections of Sensory Evaluation
Questions Method Sensory Evaluation Basic Setup
Are products different? Discrimination/ 20-50 panelists
Which sample has Difference Tests Screened for acuity
greater (keenness or sharpness
intensity of an of perception, i.e.
attribute? can they smell and
E.g. which is sweeter? taste well?)
Analysis is done using
statistical tables which
compare
results to chance – this
analysis ensures that
the difference
was real and not
because people chose
the correct sample by
luck/chance.
one-tailed binomial
test, two-tailed
binomial test and Chi
Square test
Cont.
Questions Method Sensory Evaluation Basic Setup

If products are Descriptive Analysis 8-12 panelists or 6 to

different, 10 panelist
how are they Screened for acuity,
different? Trained
What is the magnitude Asked to rate intensity
of these differences? for all sensory
attributes
Analysis is done using
a t-test or ANOVA to
determine if
means are statistically
different.
Cont.
Questions Method Sensory Evaluation Basic Setup
What is the Affective/ 75-150 consumers per
acceptability Preference test
of a product? Is the Hedonic Tests Min of 20 for pilot
product liked? Is one testing
product preferred over Screened for product
another? use (Do they buy the
product? And
how often?)
Asked degree of liking
(how much do they
like it) and/or
preference questions
Friedman test, t-test, 2
tailed binomial,
ANOVA
Discriminatory Testing
These tests are mostly employed in sensory science to determine
differences among two or more samples. These tests are frequently
used when differences among the samples are not obvious but need
to be explored. These tests are commonly employed for screening
and training of panelists, preliminary assessments, probing
sensitivity thresholds, quality assurance and quality control,
screening raw materials for consistency and inspecting the effect of
ingredient/process changes, e.g. for cost reduction or supplier
change. For appreciation of primary tastes, sensory evaluators are
provided with numerous coded samples which characterize primary
tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter) and is enquired to ascertain the taste
of each sample. In some cases, threshold tests are conducted to
determine absolute threshold (the lowermost concentration of an
ingredient that can be perceived) or recognition threshold (the
bottommost concentration of a constituent vital for identification of
the material or taste).
Triangle test
This test is valuable in quality control to detect ingredient substitution
results and odd product from various manufacturing lots. It can also be
used for screening panelists who are able to perceive a difference. For
the purpose, the assessor should be requested to postulate dissimilar
attribute. In triangle testing, each assessors gets 3 coded samples, two
are identical and one is different. The task is to pick out the unusual
sample. If the judge isolates the odd sample correctly, then the
answers to questions 2 and 3 can be analyzed. If not, they are
disregarded
Paired Comparison Test
This test is also recognized as the 2-AFC test (2 samples, alternate
forced choice test). In this case, each evaluator is provided with two
coded samples and the task is to select the sample with the highest
concentration of a pre-defined descriptor such as sweetness. This test
is only meant for a detectable difference and did not specify the
degree of difference. The likelihood of choosing the right sample by
chance is 50%; hence, paired comparison test is more authoritative in
finding differences than triangle test. A paired comparison test is
suitable for use in quality control; nevertheless, the exact
characteristic to be evaluated must be clearly.
Duo-Trio Test
In this case, 3 samples are provided to the judge; one is reference
(labeled R) and other two are coded. One coded sample is a duplicate
of reference and other one is dissimilar. The assessor is enquired to
isolate the odd sample. This test is mostly used with strong flavor
products due to less tasting required. This test is less effective than the
triangle test because the probability of selecting the correct answer by
chance is 50
Multiple Comparisons Test
This is just like paired comparisons test. In this case, a reference
sample (labeled R) is presented to the evaluator with numerous
coded samples and each one is compared with the reference sample
on the basis of a specific attribute.
Ranking
This is a quick technique for evaluating numerous samples at once
and it is frequently used for screening 1 or 2 of the best samples in a
group. The assessor is provided with 3 or more coded samples and
is asked to rank them for a specific trait.
 Descriptive Testing
 It is used in the food industry to elaborate the perceived sensory
traits of foods. These are meaningful in assessing the nature and
intensity of the differences among the samples. The following
methods are usually employed in descriptive testing:
 Scoring Methods
These methods are used to find out the intensity of some traits. The
assessor uses a structured or unstructured scale to express his/her
decision. Scaling methods are helpful in establishing the size,
intensity and direction of the differences for a particular trait;
Usually a single attribute is rated on a structured scale, labeled with
numerics and/or descriptive terms like very sweet, sweet and not
sweet. In contrary, unstructured scale have verbal anchors at the ends
and/or the midpoint. Scoring or scaling methods are mostly used in
the food industries for quantitative descriptive analysis.
 Other Descriptive Methods

Quantitative descriptive analysis, flavor and texture profiles

are usually determined by highly skilled evaluators. Being
the most sophisticated sensory methods, these demand
training and practice.
 Affective Testing

These tests are mostly used to establish the consumer acceptability or

preference for a particular product through liking and disliking. It is
employed in the food industry to determine liking and disliking of
consumer, preference of one product over another and consumers
intention to use a product. The most commonly used affective
methods include paired preferences, ranking for preference and 9-
point hedonic scale.
In paired preference the assessor is enquired to point out sample of
his preference among the two samples. A judge may choose one of
the samples but find neither one desirable. This test is quiet simple
and easy to perform especially when the desirability of one sample is
known.
In ranking for preference, the assessor is requested to rank 2 or more
samples for being favorite.
 Hedonic Testing/Scale
 The hedonic scale may be used to determine degree of acceptability of one or
more products. The most widely used scale for measuring food acceptability is
the 9-point scale.

 The reliability, validity and discriminative ability of the scale was proven in
food acceptance tests in the field, laboratory as well as in large-scale food
preference surveys.
9-Point Hedonic Scale
Like Extremely
Like Very Much
Like Moderately
Like Slightly
Neither Like nor Dislike
Dislike Slightly
Dislike Moderately
Dislike Very Much
Dislike Extremely
 USES OF SENSORY ANALYSIS

 To improve the sensory quality of a product or to ensure inter-

batch consistency.

 To understand the sensory characteristics of the products and how

they influence consumer preferences.

 To understand how the products performs against competitors’

products in relation to consumer perceptions and or sensory
characteristics.

 To determine whether or not consumers can detect differences

between product e.g. ‘me too’ products or changes in the product
due to recipe modification. specifications.
 CONTINUATION

 To evaluate a range of existing food products.

 To analyse a test kitchen sample for improvements.

 To gauge consumer response to a product.

 To check that a final product meets its original.

 How to Perform Sensory Evaluation
 Decide on the type of test you want to perform.
 Discrimination test, descriptive test, affective test- ask whether people like
or dislike a product, e.g paired comparison test or hedonic scale.
 Find a clear area to hold the sensory test. Try to make sure that it is away from
noise and cooking smells which may be distract the people taking part in the
test.
 Place as many samples in serving container as there are people taking part in
the test. Code each sample with a random number, letter or symbol.
 Check that you have enough glasses of water for the people taking part.
 Make sure the people taking part know what is expected from them.
 Ask each person to taste one sample at a time and record their responses. Allow
time between samples so that tasters can record their opinions.