Determination of a lexicon for the sensory flavor attributes of smoked food products

Abstract

Smoking of food is one of the oldest methods of food preservation and still is used widely to help preserve foods such as ham, bacon, sausage, fish, and cheeses. Apart from its conservation function, the smoking process also has a considerable influence on the sensory characteristics of the products. A highly trained, skilled descriptive sensory panel identified, defined, and referenced 14 attributes related to the flavor of food products labeled as smoked or smoky. The panel evaluated sauces, meats, fish, cheeses, vegetables, and flavorings that are on the market in addition to samples that were smoked in‐house. Attributes attributed to the smoke flavor in each sample were written down and discussed. The list was narrowed to include only those attributes that were thought to be specifically related to the smoke flavor and not to the base notes of the product or other cooked/processed notes. The lexicon includes: Smoky (Overall), Ashy, Woody, Musty/Dusty, Musty/Earthy, Burnt, Acrid, Pungent, Petroleum‐Like, Creosote/Tar, Cedar, Bitter, Metallic, and Sour. Definitions of these attributes were written and references were found that anchor a 0–15 point scale. The references include market products, chemical solutions and commonly found non‐food products. This lexicon can be used to evaluate the smoke flavor on all types of food products. Practical applications This research provides a list of sensory terms that can be used to describe the smoky flavor of products. The lexicon will help sensory analysts, product developers, researchers, and technologists better understand the flavor of products that have been naturally or artificially smoked to modify or improve the products.

Aroma and flavor characteristics of commercial Chinese traditional bacon from different geographical regions

“…Many of the flavor attributes are commonly used and already had definitions and references that were used in other published lexicons (e.g., Cherdchu et al, ; Jaffe et al, ; Pujchakarn et al, ). Some references of those terms needed to be modified to better suit the Chinese panel.…”

“…The panelists were provided with terms used in previously published researches and from previous work and experience. For example, Jaffe, Wang, and Chambers () determined a lexicon for the sensory flavor attributes of smoked food products. Our panel was trained for the definition and references of all 14 smoked‐flavor items.…”

“…A consensus method (Chambers, ) which was used for smoked flavor (Jaffe et al, ; Wang & Chambers, ; Wang, Chambers, & Kan, ) and a number of other products (Adhikari et al, ; Chambers, Lee, Chun, & Miller, ; Cherdchu, Chambers, & Suwonsichon, ; Di Donfrancesco, Koppel, & Chambers, ; Koppel & Chambers, ; Miller, Chambers, Jenkins, Lee, & Chambers, ; Pujchakarn, Suwonsichon, & Suwonsichon, ; Talavera & Chambers, ), was used for measuring aroma and flavor intensity. The panelists evaluated the bacon samples using a 0–15 point scale with 0.5 increments where 0 meant unperceived and 15 meant extremely strong.…”

Sensory and Consumer Evaluation of Smoked Pulled Pork Prepared Using Different Smokers and Different Types of Wood

“…The lexicon terms, definitions, and references were initially based on the lexicon of smoked foods developed by Jaffe et al. (). That lexicon was modified and expanded to better address the specific characteristics of smoked pork.…”

Lexicon development for the sensory description of rye bread

“…Moreover, lexicons play a major role in conducting precise sensory analysis and can be used across countries or cultures to describe similar products (Cherdchu, Chambers, & Suwonsichon, ). Multiple recent studies have been conducted to develop sensory lexicons, including cashew nuts (Griffin, Dean, & Drake, ), chicken stock (Kim, Lee, & Kim, ), smoky foods (Jaffe, Wang, & Chambers IV, ), pet foods (Di Donfranchesco, Koppel, & Chambers, ; Koppel & Koppel, ), goat cheeses (Talavera & Chambers, ), soy sauce (Imamura, ; Pujchakarn, Suwonsichon, & Suwonsichon, ), coffee (Chambers et al, ), and other product categories.…”