Introduction

Question 1

What is Sensory Analysis?

Answer 1

Sensory analysis is a scientific discipline that applies principles of experimental design and statistical analysis to the use of human senses for the purposes of evaluating consumer products.

Question 2

Human Senses

Answer 2

sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing

Question 3

In order: Attributes of Food Item (4)

Answer 3

Appearance
Aroma
Consistency and texture
Flavor

Question 4

What is Flavor?

Answer 4

Is the combined impression perceived via the chemical sense from a product in the mouth, it does not onclude appearance and texture.

Question 5

Sensory Attributes that leads to preferences and acceptability. (7)

Answer 5

Appearance, 
Aroma
Taste
Flavor
Texture - mouthfeel
Temperature
Pain/irritation

Question 6

How are sensations divided?

Answer 6

Chemical

Physical

Question 7

The 2 Chemical Sensations are:

Answer 7

Olfactory sensations: Combination of several stimuli

Taste sensation: 5 basic tastes

Question 8

Physical Sensations:

Answer 8

Temperature
Texture
Humidity
Electricity

Question 9

Physical Sensations - Temperature

Answer 9

Warm and Cold

Question 10

Physical Sensations - Texture

Answer 10

Soft and Hard

Question 11

Physical Sensations - Humidity

Answer 11

Wet and Dry

Question 12

Physical Sensations - Electricity

Answer 12

Tingling and Numbness

Question 13

3 Characteristic of Flavor

Answer 13

The Aromatics
The Taste
Chemesthetic Properties

Question 14

What is Aromatics?

Answer 14

Olfactory perceptions caused by volatile substances released from a product in the mouth via the posterior noses

Question 15

What is Taste?

Answer 15

gustatory perceptions (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami) caused by subtle substances in the mouth

Question 16

Definition of Chemesthetic Sensations

Answer 16

Chemesthesis is defined as the chemical sensibility of the skin and mucus membranes. Chemesthetic sensations arise when chemical compounds activate receptors associated with other senses that mediate pain, touch, and thermal perception. These chemical-induced reactions do not fit into the traditional sense categories of taste and smell.

Question 17

Perception

Answer 17

Perception involves the biochemical and psychological theories relating to human (and animal) sensations.

The product image induces the comparison with archetypal in our memory which leads to predisposition or refusal and activation of the other sensory apparatus. Ex: Green tomato unripe, red tomato ripe, cheese with much blue/green marbling strong taste.

Question 18

Psychophysiology

Answer 18

stimulus generation goes on to sensory receptors, which will transfer the stimuli to the brain which will induce a psychological sensation. The interpretation of the stimulus and the memory give rise to what we call psychological perception

Question 19

Scheme of Sensory Perception

Answer 19

Light: eye (retina): appearance, color
Volatile compounds: nose
Soluble compounds: mouth: taste
Mechanical vibrations, pressure, thermal energy: hands, ear: thickness, crunchiness

Question 20

Factors that influence the perception? (9)

Answer 20

Food
Psychosocial aspects
Tasting methods
Focus (casual or intense)
Conditions (quiet, odor-free vs. noisy place or cellar, lighting, temperature)
Information provided (identified vs. blind testing)
Individual sensitivities (age, disease, genetics, smoker, deficiency)
Range of flavor
Number of samples tasted

Question 21

One of the Shelf Life Indicator?

Answer 21

Aroma can serves as Shelf Like Indicator, Aroma profile of food changes because of various degradation reactions (oxidation, microbial growth, lipolysis, proteolysis, evaporation, absorption).

Question 22

Perception of Aromatic Molecules:

Answer 22

The perception of aromatic molecules depends of their concentration. Basically, they must be present at a concentration superior to their threshold limit.

The threshold of perception varies greatly from compound to compound.

Question 23

Can Threshold Change for a individual?

Answer 23

Yes, Threshold is not a constant for a given substance but rather a constantly changing point.
Threshold changes with moods, time of biorhythm and with hunger and satiety.

Question 24

How can you measure Aroma?

Answer 24

With 3 machines

VOC (volatile organic compound identification and quantification)
GCMS (gascromatographic technique)
OGC and electronic nose.

Question 25

What is OGC?

Answer 25

OGC ( olfactometry-gas-cromatography) is a combination of 2 methods:

1 - a gazous mixture is introduced in the machine. The compounds are expulsed 1 by 1 through a tube. The analist is smelling those compounds as they exit the tube and he descibes what he perceives. What we realise is that sometimes, a compound may be presentn in high amounts comapred to the rest but is not perceeived by the analist because it has not reach it’ specific threshold limit.