Sensory Research
Sensory research is a scientific approach for evoking, measuring, analysing and interpreting responses to goods via the five senses:
sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound.
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Sensory research is a scientific approach for evoking, measuring, analysing and interpreting responses to goods via the five senses:
sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound.
How tasty a product is, how different two products are and how taste changes over time are only a few of the questions which can be answered through sensory research.
Sensory research can address these types of questions which are relevant and of great importance in food and non-food businesses alike. This kind of research is a well-established area in an industry where sensory science is frequently used to assess product quality
-as well as in academia- where fundamental science on how humans taste food is under investigation.
Precision, accuracy, and sensitivity are all important aspects in sensory evaluation, as is minimizing false-positive outcomes. The sensory scientist should complete these four tasks: problem characterization, test design, instrumentation, and result interpretation, as the foundation of a reliable sensory evaluation. To conduct a successful sensory evaluation, the researcher must first understand the aim of the study, subsequently choose a suitable experimental design, recruit panelists appropriate for the task, prepare and display samples properly and accurately interpret the data.
These tasks were traditionally completed with a pen and paper. Despite the fact that paper forms are relatively inexpensive, designing paper responses for various types of designs can be time-consuming and error-prone when transferring data from the paper to software for data analysis. Using a computerised system has numerous advantages for data collection, including the ability to design, analyse and report data quickly and without the risk of human errors.
Color, size, shape, texture, consistency, and opacity are all factors that the eyes take into account while judging the initial quality of food. For instance, through the sense of sight, we can determine ripeness of a fruit or the degree to which the meal has been heated. This first evaluation can determine the desirability and acceptance of a food.
Our sense of smell, or olfactory sense, also plays a role in determining the quality of food. Temperature affects the volatility of scents. Because odor is carried by only volatile molecules in the form of gas, it is simpler to detect hot foods than cold foods. Hot tea, for example, is considerably easier to detect than iced tea, and baked goods have a stronger odor than ice cream. Hunger, satiety, mood, focus, the presence or absence of respiratory illnesses, and gender all affect human subjects’ sensitivity to odors.
Taste is the most influential aspect in their food selection. Taste buds are located largely on the surface of the tongue, in the mucosa of the palate, and in parts of the neck. Each taste bud has a pore in the center where saliva gathers. When food enters the mouth, it dissolves in the saliva pools and comes into contact with the gustatory cells’ cilia, which are small hair like projections.
Gustatory cells communicate with the brain via cranial nerves. The nerve electrical impulses are then translated by the brain into sensations that individuals perceive as “taste.” Flavor is a broader term than taste, which is based on the feeling produced by stimulating the taste buds. Flavor is the sensation of taste, fragrance, and mouthfeel combined. Textural and chemical sensations like as astringency, spice heat, coolness, and metallic flavor are all part of mouthfeel.
The sense of touch conveys texture perceptions to us through mouth sensations or the skin. If the first input with products is visual; the second is touch, which can be felt directly through the fingers or indirectly through eating utensils; and the third is the sensation in the mouth (mouthfeel), which is sensed by the teeth and tactile nerve cells on the tongue and palate. Texture perception comprises tactile feel properties, (i.e., grainy, gritty, crystalline, flaky) or moisture properties (i.e., wetness, oiliness, moistness, dryness).
Another sense that is used to assess food quality is sound. Sizzling, crunching, cracking, bubbling, squeaking, dripping, exploding, and crackling are just a few of the sounds that may convey a lot about a food.
Sensory testing is of two kinds: analytical and affective testing.
Panelists taking part in the discriminating and descriptive tests are called trained panelists. They are carefully selected and trained to evaluate sensory characteristics of a food. A trained panel may consists of 5 to 10 panelists. The consumer panel is recruited to participate in the sensory test to indicate product liking and preference. It might consists of 100 or more panelists (Rogers, 2018)
Interest and motivation
Candidates who are interested in the product that is being investigated and in the sensory analysis.
Attitudes to foods
If a candidate has a strong dislike for certain food and drinks should not be screened.
Knowledge and aptitude
The candidates should have capacity to concentrate and not affected by external influences.
Health
The candidates should be in good health. They should not suffer from any food allergies or take any medications that affects their senses.
Ability to communicate
Candidates should be able to describe the sensations they perceive while eating or drinking. This trait is very important for screening the descriptive panel.
Availability
Candidates should be available for training and frequent assessments. If someone travels frequently or have hectic work schedule then they should not be screened.
It is recommended that candidates go over the following screening steps:
The testing rooms used in the sensory evaluation should have minimum distractions and it should have controlled conditions such as temperature, humidity, air circulation, color and lighting.
The test facility should at least consist of testing booths and preparation area. But if possible then there should be waiting area for panelists, coatroom, storage room for supplies and samples. The testing facility shouldn’t be close to busy area for example: near a cafeteria. It is also important to make sure the facility can be easily accessed by panelists with physical disabilities.
The temperature and humidity of the testing booth should be 22–24°C and 45–55% respectively (Morten Meilgaard, Gail Vance Civille and B Thomas Carr, 2007). There should be no odor in the booth that influence the sensory evaluation of a panelist. This can be achieved by installing activated carbon filters in the ventilation system (ISO,2007)
The walls of the booth should be off-white and lighting should be uniform and controllable. The ideal illumination for the testing booth is 700-800 lx (Lawless & Heymann, 2010). Colored lights can be used to mask the differences in product appearance.
Society of Sensory Science. (2016). Society of Sensory Science. [online] Available at: Society of Sensory Professionals .
Rogers, L., 2018. Sensory Panel Management: A Practical Handbook for Recruitment, Training and Performance. Woodhead Publishing.
International Organization for Standardization [ISO](1993) – Sensory analysis – General guidance for the selection, training and monitoring of assessors
Morten Meilgaard, Gail Vance Civille and B Thomas Carr (2007). Sensory evaluation techniques. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis.
International Organization for Standardization [ISO](2007) – Sensory analysis – General guidance for the design of test rooms.
LAWLESS, H. T., & HEYMANN, H. (2010). Sensory evaluation of food: principles and practices. New York, Springer.
