Sensory Properties Flashcards
Sensory Properties and the Senses
Sensory properties (also called organoleptic properties) describe how food is experienced through the five senses:
✔ Sight (appearance) – Colour, shape, size, and presentation affect how appetising food looks.
✔ Taste – The tongue detects five basic tastes:
• Sweetness (e.g., sugar, honey, ripe fruit)
• Sourness (e.g., lemon, vinegar)
• Bitterness (e.g., coffee, dark chocolate)
• Saltiness (e.g., salted nuts, crisps)
• Umami (savoury taste, e.g., soy sauce, mushrooms, cooked meat)
✔ Touch (texture and mouthfeel) – Food can be crunchy, smooth, creamy, chewy, soft, dry, or moist.
✔ Smell (aroma) – The nose detects volatile aroma compounds, which enhance taste (e.g., fresh bread, coffee).
✔ Hearing (sound) – The sound of food (e.g., crunching crisps, sizzling bacon) adds to sensory enjoyment.
Changes in Sensory Properties When Food is Cooked
When food is cooked, changes occur in texture, appearance, colour, taste, sound, and aroma:
✔ Texture – Food softens (e.g., boiling vegetables) or crisps (e.g., baking bread).
✔ Appearance – Food browns due to Maillard reaction and caramelisation (e.g., roasted meat, toast).
✔ Colour – Heat changes colour (e.g., raw meat turns brown, egg whites turn opaque).
✔ Taste – Cooking can enhance or reduce flavours (e.g., roasting intensifies sweetness).
✔ Sound – Cooking creates sound (e.g., frying sizzles, crispy foods crackle).
✔ Aroma – Heat releases aromatic compounds (e.g., frying onions, baking cookies).
Sensory Testing and Panels
✔ Controlled conditions – Testers should not be influenced by outside factors (e.g., brand, colour, smell).
✔ Use of sensory booths – These are neutral environments with no distractions.
✔ Identical samples – All testers receive the same portion at the same temperature.
✔ Use of water – Testers rinse their mouth between samples to avoid flavour carryover.
Types of Sensory Tests
✔ Preference tests – Ask people which food they prefer (e.g., triangle test – where testers identify the odd sample).
✔ Descriptive tests – Panelists describe food using sensory terms (e.g., sweet, crunchy, tangy).
✔ Difference tests – Compare two products to see if they taste different (e.g., regular vs. reduced sugar version).
Styles and Forms of Rating, Ranking, and Profiling Systems
✔ Rating tests – Testers rate a food characteristic on a scale (e.g., 1–10 for sweetness).
✔ Ranking tests – Foods are ranked in order based on a characteristic (e.g., crunchiness).
✔ Profiling tests – A food’s characteristics are graphed based on sensory attributes.
