An Overview of Sensory Characterization Techniques: From Classical Descriptive Analysis to the Emergence of Novel Profiling Methods

Abstract

Sensory science provides objective information about the consumer understanding of a product, the acceptance or rejection of stimuli, and the description of the emotions evoked. It is possible to answer how consumers perceive a product through discriminative and descriptive techniques. However, perception can change over time, and these fluctuations can be measured with time-intensity methods. Instrumental sensory devices and immersive techniques are gaining headway as sensory profiling techniques. The authors of this paper critically review sensory techniques from classical descriptive analysis to the emergence of novel profiling methods. Though research has been done in the creation of new sensory methods and comparison of those methods, little attention has been given to the timeline approach and its advantages and challenges. This study aimed to gather, explain, simplify, and discuss the evolution of sensory techniques.

Trader acceptability of African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum Shum) genotypes and effect of bio‐control treatments on consumer sensory acceptability

“…Bitterness. Regarding bitterness, females reportedly have a higher sensitivity to bitterness and sweetness than males (Michon et al, 2009;Koubaa & Eleuch, 2020). The results of the bio-control treatments generally imply that the female panellists could have found AMF-treated E15 and E16 more bitter and less desirable during light rains; hence their low scores when compared with the male.…”

“…On the other hand, during heavy rains, the level of liking for texture was influenced by gender differences (Michon et al, 2009) and nakati genotypic differences (Szczałba et al, 2019) with E16 and E15 preferred. Oral stereognosis tests performed by Michon et al (2009) revealed that females perform better than males as far as sensitivity to different oral textures is concerned, despite males having a higher chewing ability. While effects of bio-control treatments were not significant during heavy rains, similarly TRI-treated samples were liked less than the controls.…”

“…Each panellist received a representative specimen and training to increase their sensitivity and ability to discriminate between the sensory attributes and intensity of the bitter vegetables. Due to time limitations as a result of COVID-19, training was cut short and free choice profiling of nakati was done by the assessors prior to sensory analysis as recommended by Singh-Ackbarali & Maharaj (2014), and Marques et al (2022). A five-point category ranging from 1 to 5 was used to measure the intensity of each sensory attribute, where 1 denoted the least appealing or palatable and five denoted the most appealing or palatable.…”

“…Aroma. Regarding aroma, females have better taste and flavour sensitivity (Michon et al, 2009) which contributes to better aroma perception. It is also been reported that males and females exhibit differences in brain activation in response to taste stimuli during different physiological states of hunger and satiety (Haase et al, 2011).…”

Harnessing Food Product Reviews for Personalizing Sweetness Levels

“…Food companies are aiming to optimize the sensory profile and liking of the products, by measuring taste perception and hedonics using multiple sensory evaluation techniques, such as descriptive sensory analysis, hedonic and preference tests [9,19]. Sweetness ratings can be achieved using various methods, and though the scores depend on the measurements, the scales and the context [9,20], optimal concentration of sucrose is mostly consistent among different test conditions [20].…”