Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate subjectivity issue, particularly sensitivity variance and fatigue effect, in human sensory evaluation, as well as review the feasibility of human-independent quality system, using E-tongue and E-nose. Design/methodology/approach The sensitivity level is evaluated by measuring the threshold of Acesulfame-K, while the fatigue effect is evaluated by measuring the accuracy level of evaluation through the time. The experiment was administered to six trained sensory panelists. Findings The experiment result shows that each panelist has a different level of sensitivity and tendency in evaluating samples containing Acesulfame-K. Furthermore, by simulating the panelists’ daily inspection, the fatigue effect is also found in one out of six panelists. The use of E-nose and E-tongue, may eliminate the subjectivity issue, supporting the development of human error-free quality system. Research limitations/implications The research findings indicate the needs of human substitution-built into the quality system to avoid both of subjectivity and error judgment while defining the products quality. However, the small numbers of panelists as well as the unvalidated substitute instruments application in the target workcenter were the main limitation of this study. Human-independent quality system could be applied only when the instruments have been calibrated to human response in perceiving taste and odor. Originality/value The research finding supports the theory of human panels’ tradeoffs in a sensory analysis in terms of sensitivity level variance and fatigue. It has provided additional contributions to the existing theories as well as developed effective strategies for the development of the human-independent quality system.

Cardiovascular disease is related to the high consumption of trans fatty acid. This issue has driven SEAFAST IPB Lab oratory to develop a trans fatty acid analysis method for gas chromatography b ased on AOCS Official Method ABSTRAK1Meningkatnya isu kesehatan terkait penyakit kardiovaskuler yang dihubungkan dengan tingkat konsumsi asam lemak trans mendorong laboratorium SEAFAST IPB untuk mengembangkan metode analisis asam lemak trans dengan kromatografi gas berdasarkan AOCS Official Method Ce 1h-05 (AOCS, 2005). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memvalidasi metode tersebut melalui tiga tahap: tahap persiapan, orientasi prosedur uji dan validasi metode. Selama pengecekan unjuk kerja instrumen pada tahap persiapan dilakukan validasi linieritas, batas deteksi (LoD) dan batas kuantitasi (LoQ), rentang kerja, serta presisi pada larutan baku FAME 9t-C18:1 dan campuran isomer C18:2. Sementara pada tahap validasi metode dilakukan validasi spesifisitas, presisi dan akurasi untuk senyawa 9 t-C18:1 dalam matriks produk pangan, dalam hal ini donat. Hasil validasi instrumen pada baku 9t-C18:1 memenuhi kriteria linieritas (r 2 = 1,00, syarat r 2 > 0,990) pada rentang kerja 0,0020 sampai 0,1200 mg/mL, dengan presisi (RSD) 0,24%, LoD 0,0007 mg/mL, dan LoQ 0,0020 mg/mL. Hasil validasi untuk setiap isomer dalam baku campuran isomer C18:2 juga memenuhi kriteria linieritas (r 2 = 0,9999, syarat r 2 > 0,990) dengan presisi (RSD), LoD dan LoQ masing-masing; 1) 9t,12t-C18:2: 1,40%; 0,0033 mg/mL 0,0100 mg/mL; 2) 9t,12c-C18:2: 1,89%; 0,0015 mg/mL; 0,0045 mg/mL; 3) 9c,12t-C18:2: 2,39%; 0,0015 mg/mL; 0,0044 mg/mL; 4) C18:2 cis: 3,39%; 0,0006 mg/mL; 0,0019 mg/mL. Hasil validasi metode untuk senyawa 9t-C18:1 dalam 100 mg ekstrak lemak donat menunjukkan bahwa metode tervalidasi untuk parameter spesifisitas (Rs = 1,2), presisi (RSD kadar asam lemak (mg/g) = 1,78%; RSD persen kadar asam lemak terhadap asam lemak total = 0,72%) dan akurasi (persen rekoveri) 80,54-94,25%.Kata kunci: asam lemak trans, kromatografi gas , validasi metode