sensory of foods

1. Sensory Analysis
Using sensory analysis in Food
Technology

2. Sensory analysis is used to
evaluate food products
 Sensory analysis is used in industry and
discovers details on:
 Flavour and taste
 Texture
 Appearance – Colour, shape, size
 Smell/Aroma
 Sounds

3. Sensory Analysis studies three
main areas
 What does the product taste like?
 What are its sensory characteristics?
 How does a change in production,
packaging or storage affect sensory
characteristics

4. Sensory analysis in the Food
Industry
 Sensory analysis is used at several stages
during product development
 Companies can compare a competitor’s
product
 Improve products by modifying or changing
the ingredients
 Check that the specification is being met

5. Industry continued
 Monitor quality control by checking regular
samples against specification
 Detect differences between products from
different runs or batches
 Profile the characteristics of new products
 Describe specific characteristics

6. Industry Continued
 Demonstrate new products to marketing
team
 Promote new or reformulated products to
consumers
 Sensory analysis is carried out in controlled
conditions

7. Which senses are used in
Analysis?
 Sight – Appearance
 Smell and taste – Aroma and flavour
 Touch – Texture and mouthfeel
 Sound – Noise

8. Taste areas of the tongue

9. Sensory Analysis Tests
 Preference Tests – These supply
information about people’s likes/dislikes of
a product.
 Discrimination Tests – Aim to evaluate
specific attributes ie Crunchiness

10. Preference Tests
 Pair comparison/preference test – a test
which compares a pair of similar products
looking at specific characteristics
 Hedonic tests – Test sample and grade
1=Dislike very much, 5=Like very much.
Samples analysed for lowest/highest score
 Scoring tests – Samples are scored on a
scale between like and dislike

11. Discrimination Tests
 Ranking – Decide on attribute to be ranked
eg Crunchiness, allow people to evaluate
samples and place them in rank order
 Star Diagram – Allows food products to be
evaluated using a range of attributes

12. Star Diagram
 The test can be used to:
 Evaluate differences in similar products
 Gauge consumer response
 Analyse specific attributes
 Check a product meets its specification
 Compare similarities in a range of products
 Show opportunities for product development