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Sensory Analysis 1

An Experiment Using Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch and Hearing to Measure and Analyze the

Characteristics of Angel Food Cake, Apples, Salt and Vinegar Chips, Yogurt and Lemonade.

Sensory Analysis

Colleen Poling

Ohio University Sensory Analysis 2

PURPOSE:

This experiment was designed to test a personal sensory analysis of foods. In the food industry today, sensory analysis is used constantly. It is crucial that students planning on entering different fields of the food industry understand how sensory analysis is used and how it works.

Students can do this by conducting sensory analysis tests (paired comparison, triangle and ranking). The students can also become familiar with sensory evaluation and terms by conducting a threshold basic taste test (Brannan, 2007, p. 12).

METHODOLGY:

There were five parts to this experiment. The first part, the students conducted a paired comparison test. The students took two samples and determined the greater intensity of sugar.

The second part, the students conducted a triangle test among three beverages. The students took three samples and determined which sample was different and did not belong. The third part, the students conducted a ranking test. The students tasted three samples on lemonade are ranked them decreasing intensity of sugar. The fourth part the students did an evaluation of food using descriptive terms. The students took four food samples and did a descriptive evaluation on each of the samples. The fifth part the students did a determination of taste threshold. The students tasted samples of salt water and sugar water. When the student recorded when a hint of the flavor was tasted (Brannan, 2007, p. 13). All tests were conducted once.

RESULTS:

Part A Sweeter Sample sample 245 293 X Sensory Analysis 3

Class # of correct: 100%; class total samples: 20; binomial test statistic: 100%. Out of the two samples that were tested, sample 293 was sweeter.

Part B Different Sample sample 367 329 346 X Class # of correct: 100%; class total samples: 20; binomial test statistic: 100%. Out of the three samples that were tested, sample 346 was clearly tested as the different sample. The other two samples were identical.

Part C Decreasing order of intensity (1=highest Sample intensity) 489 3 432 2 464 1 The sweetest sample was sample number 464. Sample 432 was not as sweet as 464 and sample

489 was the least sweet of the three.

Part D. Sample Appearance Flavor Texture Aroma angel food puffy, porous, cake golden brown sweet, eggy dry sugary oxidized, light apple green bitter, sweetness gritty apple smell curvy, brown salty, pungent, overwhelming, s&v chips edges, cream bitter crunchy strong yogurt white bland smooth milky Each sample was analyzed according to appearance, flavor, texture and aroma. The angel food cake had a puffy and golden brown appearance with a sweet and eggy flavor, the texture was dry and it had a sugary aroma. The apple appeared oxidized because it was slightly brown. The skin was slightly light green and the flavor was slightly bitter and slightly sweet. The texture was Sensory Analysis 4 gritty and the aroma had an apple smell. The salt and vinegar chips had a curvy shape appearance with brown edges. The flavor was very salty, bitter and pungent. The texture was very crunchy and the aroma was very overwhelming and strong. The yogurt had a white color to it. The flavor was very bland and the texture was very smooth. The aroma of the yogurt was milky.

Part E. Threshold Basic Taste: Sugar #2 Basic Taste: Salt #1 Out of four samples of the sugar concentrated water, Sugar was detected at the second sample.

Out of the four samples of salt concentrated water, salt was detected at the first sample.

DISCUSSION:

In part A the students all experienced sample 293 as the sweeter sample. There was a fifty/fifty chance of the students to choose either sample. The sample 293 was clearly sweeter; it has a higher concentration of sugar in the mixture of lemonade. In part B the students experienced sample 346 to be the ruled out sample. Sample 329 and 367 were the same exact mixture of lemonade. There was a 33% chance of choosing the different mixture. It was clearly much bitterer than the other two samples. This test was much more powerful than the paired comparison test because of the 33% probability. In part C the students ranked three different mixtures of lemonade, and every person experienced the same results. Sample 464 was the sweetest, then 432, then 489. The students all got the same results because the concentrations of sugar in each sample were significantly different from each other. In part D the results may have varied from student to student. It was a personal evaluation of each food that each student described individually. The angel food cake, apple, salt and vinegar chips and yogurt were all Sensory Analysis 5 described with different terms. In part E was the threshold experiment, with salt water and sugar water. Each student has their own threshold. When Colleen Poling did the experiment she experienced the sugar at threshold number two and the salt at the threshold number one.

The class results and the expected results were right on target. All the class answered with the correct response. There were no known suspected experimental errors. Everything that happened should have happened. Everything that was not supposed to happen did not happen. In other words, the class results were consistent with the information because the students guessed the correct answers for the different tests. There may have been a slight variation with the threshold experiment, because some students may have experienced the salty or sweet taste at a higher or lower threshold. There were only a couple students who had a different threshold, and it was only by a factor of one.

In a study by the Topics in Clinical Nutrition, a similar experiment was done on individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). The experiment used a paired comparison test and a triangle test. The basis of the experiment was finding out if individuals who had PWS had higher threshold of sweetness then a controlled group. For the paired comparison test sucrose and water, fructose and water and aspartame and water were compared each at .75 %, 1.0%,

1.25%, 1.5% solution. The subject was to pick out which one was sweeter; if they could they, were considered to be right. For the triangle test two samples were the same and one sample was different (just like in the experiment done in the student laboratory). There were six different tests done. The results were that individuals with PWS had high threshold for sweetness than the controlled group (Hoffman, 1999, p. 63). The tests were conducted in the same manner as the tests the class conducted in the student laboratory. Sensory Analysis 6

On the subject of sensory analysis, there is an article that helps support personal sensory analysis evaluations done on an apple. The article is called, The Relationship between sensory analysis, penetrometry and visible–NIR spectroscopy of apples belonging to different cultivars.

This research article did many different sensory analysis evaluations on French apple cultivators.

Texture, flavor, crunchiness, touch, roughness, aroma and many more are just some examples of the different profiling done on the apples (Bertrand, 2003, p. 473). Similar analyses were done on the apple in the student laboratory. Similar results came from the personal experiment done by the student’s laboratory and the original research experiment.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS:

This experiment demonstrated a very solid idea of sensory analysis. It helped the students better understand what exactly it means to analyze food with the five senses. The students better understand what a paired comparison test is, what a triangle test is, what a ranking test is, how to evaluate food and use descriptive terms and how to distingue a taste threshold. In part A sample number 293 was sweeter. In part B same 346 was different. In part C the order of decreasing intensity was sample 464, 432, and 489. With this information learned, students know the importance and value of sensory analysis and how to utilize it.

Sensory Analysis 7

References

Bertrand D, Jourjon F, Laurens F, Mehinagic E, Royer G, Symoneaux R. Relationship

between sensory analysis, penetrometry and visible–NIR spectroscopy of apples

belonging to different cultivars. Food Quality & Preference; Jul2003, Vol. 14 Issue

5/6, p473, 12p

Brannon, R.G. 2007 Laboratory Manual for HCFN 120. pp. 11-15.

Hoffman C, Prince M. Sweetness Thresholds and Preferences of Individuals with

Prader-Willi Syndrome. Topics in Clinical Nutrition. Sep99, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p58-63,

6p

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