CHAP 15 : SENSORY AND CONSUMER SCIENCE Flashcards
What is sensory science?
It is a scientific discipline in which human sensory perception is used to make measurements.
What is consumer science?
It is the scientific approach towards understandng how consumers make decisions and the various factors affecting a purchasing decision.
The sensory attributes of food refer to any _____ of food that can be measured by our _____ _____.
Properties ; five senses
Besides the chemical composition of food, what else kind affect our perception of colour?
Lighting of external environment
In food evaluation, how can scientists exclude the effects of colour when subjects are evaluating a food?
Use coloured lights to mask the colour of a food
What are somatosensations and what are they caused by?
Somatosensations are reduced sensation in one or more areas of the body, related to the sense of touch.
They are caused by sensory neurons which perceive tactile, thermal, irritation stimuli
We can tell the texture of food when they are in contact with our skin and _____ _____ because we have _____ that sense them.
Oral caviy, mechanoreceptors
The serving temperature of food is important as it affects the release of _____ _____ molecules and our perception of _____-_____ molecules.
There are _____underneath the skin that are responsible for sensing temperatures
aromatic volatile ;; non-volatile
thermoreceptors
The last sensaation classified under somatosensations is irritation.
What is another name for them?
How do they arise? List some examples.
Chemethesis
They arise when chemical compounds activate the receptors of other senses –> those usually involved in pain, touch, thermal perception in eye, mose, mouth, throat.
These sensations arise when chemical activates mechanoreceptors or thermoreceptors instead of the usual pressure and temperature stimuli activating the receptors.
e.g. spiciness from capsaicin in chilli is due to hot sensations released by chemicals, and we sweat when eating spicy food –> our taste buds do not taste spice
coolness from menthol
fizziness from carbonated drinks
numbing sensations of mala
etcetc
What are the 2 drawbacks of instruments developed to simulate chewing process and measure the force needed to chew?
- Instruments cannot fully replicate the chewing process
- The results are meaningless if not calibrated with human subjects (need humans as a point of comparison)
Our sense of hearing affects our perception of food. We perceive cripsiness as a _____ pitched sound while cruchiness as a _____ pitched sound.
higher ;; lower
What are the 5 tastes ?
Sweet, salty, sour, bitter
umami – meaty, savoury, mouth-watering sensation due to glutamic acid
There is ongoing research that seems to have identified new types of taste receptors in taste buds. They are receptors for _____ ____ and _____, which is the Japanese word for _____.
fatty acids ;; kokumi ;; richness
What is the boiling point of volatile aromatic compounds?
lower than 250°C
It is estimated that there are more than _____ types of olfactory receptors.
Each type of olfactory receptor can recognise more than one type of odours molecule.
Each type of odourous molecule can bond to more than one type of odour receptor.
An odour consists of ____ to ____ of different types of odourous molecules.
400 ;; tens ;; hundreds
