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Food Sensory and Evaluation

Why Consumers Choose Certain Foods & Beverages

Nutrition 205

Parisa Mohammad

March 25, 2013

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Abstract

Sensory Evaluations are used by obtaining data from human senses such as taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing. Although people's tastes and preferences are considered subjective, the data received from sensory evaluations can be used objectively to increase product acceptance.

Participants were for!y three untrained students found at the San Diego State University majoring in Foods and Nutrition. The study was performed in the Foods and Nutrition Laboratory located

at San Diego State University. A series oftests were performed to learn about sensory evaluations. These tests included Color Association/Perception of Beverage. The samples shown were light yellow, dark yellow, chartreuse, dark chartreus and emerald green. The study was based only on sight without any students being able to touch, smell or taste any of the liquids. Participants were asked a series of questions regarding the perceived colors of the beverages. Then a series of Differential tests were given using either samples of apple juice with varying

degrees of sourness or vanilla wafer cookies. These tests included a paired comparison test, triangle test, scoring test, ranking test and duo trio test. The last series of tests given were descriptive tests using samples of goldfish crackers, almonds, raisins and marshmallows. Participants were asked to choose one word to describe each samples appearance, flavor, texture, aroma, consistency and mouth feel. The results of the sensory evaluations showed that ~ participants prefer lightly colored beverages as opposed to dark vibrant colors which are more ~ associated with sweetness and artificiality. The majority of participants were able to taste the ~ difference of varying amounts of citric acid added to apple juice. Overall students were able to a...._rDr;.. use subjective opinions to form objective test results. ~ • 'Q

C1coci s l

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Sensory Evaluations are used by obtaining data from human senses such as taste, smell, ?, ~(!) ~" "ZP l ~

sight, touch and hearing. Although people's tastes and preferences are considered subjective, the

data received from sensory evaluations can be used objectively to increase sales of a product.

Sensory Evaluation is an essential tool for thousands of food companies to increase their profits

and ensure product acceptance. Sensory evaluations can be divided into three categories;

effective, affective and perception.

Effective testing deals with objective questions such as, "Which product differs from the

standard?" An example of effective testing is used in The Duo Trio test where participants are

given a standard sample of food and two unknown samples, one of which is the same type of

sample as the standard and one is somehow different. Participants are then asked to choose

which unknown sample is different from the standard sample. Discrimination tests such as

triangle, paired comparison and ranking are all considered effective tests. (f3YOW01 ZO\ 0

An example of an effe~tive ranking test can be found in Aleson-Carbonell and others

study, Quality characteristics of a non-fermented dry-cured sausage formulated with lemon

albedo. This study was used to determine acceptance of a reduced fat sausage product using

varying amounts and varieties of lemon albedo. Thirty untrained panelists consumed six different

samples of sausage made with varying amounts of lemon albedo. Half of them were made with

raw albedo and half were made with cooked albedo. They were ranked using the original sausage

as the control. The categories they were ranked for were color intensity, flavor intensity, sour

taste, saltiness, fattiness, hardness, crumbliness, juiciness and grittiness. The results were that

saltiness and fattiness were not affected by the addition of albedo. Juiciness perception decreased

with the use of albedo as did flavor intensity. The overall conclusion was that higher amounts of

albedo resulted in products with lower sensory qualit<" (Aleson-Carbonell, 2004),

\ W ha:t-~ HJ IS f'V\Q_QJ) ~

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Affective testing deals more with personal preference and can be found in test that use

descriptive terms and any test using a hedonic scale. A study published by Mark Biener in 2010

focused on the acceptance of rice fortified with iron and used an affective test. "The Acceptance

Test evaluated general rice appearance, color, aroma and taste by 43 non-trained judges, using a

7-point hedonic scale with extremes ranging from "really disliked" and "really liked.""(Biener,

2010) They also used the Duo Trio test which is an example of effective testing in which they

found that, "there were no significant differences between .the analyzed samples of conventional """

rice and UR rice." Using both effective and affective tests Biener found that overall the iron did h

not alter the sensory characteristics of the final product, and the iron-fortified rice was well ~-1, accepted.-ihS '<h_QO.A''~ +l..._oJ-, . . \

The third sensory evaluation test is called perception. More often than not consumers are

unable to taste products at the grocery store before they purchase them so they must rely on other

indicators such as color, packaging and size to form a decision as whether or not to purchase that

item. A study called The Influence of Color and Label Information on Flavor Perception states,

"Previous research that has manipulated either the color of, or labeling information associated

with, foods and beverages has shown that each of these factors can si gnifican tl y influence----~ !J YQ

perceptual and preferential responses to them." In this study 30 participants rated 12 chocolate $e._

M&M candies of varying colors. They were told that these chocolates were a new product and

were asked to rate the intensity of their flavor. Participants rated brown colored M&M' s as being

significantly chocolatier than the green M&M's. 'rm:s=incrgases1Fiai valic~the saying, :::yfrif

~qyee$s:;.r "These results illustrate that flavor perception involves the combining of

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chemosensory i'nformation with both visual (color) information and cognitive, expectancy-based

(label) inputs." (Shankar, 2009)

Not only are sensory evaluation tests used to choose the best product for the consumer

but they can also be used to ensure the participants in the study have high discrimination ability

for taste. In a study called Descriptive Profile of Peach Nectar Sweetened with Sucrose and

Different Sweeteners, panelists were first given a triangle test using peach nectar samples with a

significant difference of 0.1% sweetener. "The sensory panel was selected by the discrimination

ability of the subjects, reproducibility of judgments and agreement with the other members of the

group" (Cardoso, 2008) this was to ensure that participants were able to distinguish tastes well

enough to be a valid participan.t.

Methods

Panelists

The panelists were all untrained San Diego State University Students majoring in Foods

and Nutrition and congruently enrolled in Nutrition 205 during the spring 2013 semester. There

were forty three students participating with a mean age of 22.2. To better analyze the results of

the study some basic information was gathered from the participants. The age range was 19 to

40+. 91 % were undergraduate students while 9% were graduate students. Of the 43 participants

only 14% were males with the other 84% being females. Only 1 (2.3%) of the 43 participants

was a smoker. 18% of the participants were married while 82% were single. Six of the 43

participants had food allergies which consisted of gluten, lactase, nuts and salmon.

/ Environment

The study was performed in the Foods and Nutrition Laboratory located at San Diego

State University. The doors were shut and participants were asked not to leave during the study.

Participants were seated in rows at individual desks. There were no dividers between

participants. The lighting was adequate and it was a comfortable temperature in the room. The

noise level during the study was fairly quiet as students were asked not to speak to one another.

The lab instructor and assistant were the ones giving directions while the first participant from

each row was passing out the food samples. In between different tests the instructors were

walking around refilling Di water for students to drink in between samples to cleanse their

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palate. The study was divided into two sections with one beginning at nine a.m. and the other

beginning at one p.m.

Color Association/Perception of Beverage

) The first test conducted was the color association. It consisted of showing participants

five different colors of liquid inside clear glass beakers. The samples shown were light yellow,

dark yellow, chartreuse, dark chartreus and emerald green using approximately 500 ml of each.

The study was based only on sight without any students being able to touch, smell or taste any of

the liquids. Participants were asked to rank the beverages using a 5-point scale with five being

the most and one being the least. The categories they were asked to rank were perceived

sweetness, sourness, artificiality, most natural, beverage they would prefer to drink and which

beverage they would least prefer to drink. Participants were then asked which temperature they

would prefer to drink each colored beverage using hot, warm tepid or cold as options. Then

participants were asked whether or not they would actually drink each color of beverage. The

results were written down by students and then tallied by the Professor and Lab Assistant using

show of hands. At the end of the study the students were given the names of the beverages. Light

yellow was Mountain Dairy lemonade, dark yellow was Xtremo Citrico Vibrante Gatorade,

chartreuse was 350 ml of Lemon lime Gatorade plus 150 ml of Green Squall Powerade, dark

chartreuse was Green Squal Powerade and emerald green was Watermelon Gatorade.

Differential Tests v The next few study performed are categorized under Differential Tests and involves

comparison of two or more similar samples. All tests except for duo trio used apple juice as the

sample. Less thim 14 ounce of juice was given for each sample and was served in one ounce

white cups. For the Duo Trio test the samples used were vanilla wafers. Participants were also

given a Styrofoam cup of Di water in which they were instructed to drink between samples as a

palate cleanser.

The first test was the paired comparison where participants were given two samples of

apple juice labeled 635Tl and 573T2. They were then asked to determine which one was the

sourest. Sample 635Tl was pure apple juice while sample 573T2 was apple juice with 1% citric

acid added.

~he triang~t was given using three samples of apple juice labeled 777C 1, 542E2 and

112H9. Two of the samples were the same and one was different. Participants were asked to

decipher which sample was different. Samples 777C1 and 542E2 were both 100% apple juice

while sample 112H9 had 1% citric acid added.

The scoring test was given using three samples of apple juice. The first sample labeled

was the reference sample which was given a four on a scale of one to seven for sourness, one

being the sourest and seven being the least sour. The other two samples labeled 420M and S723

were unknown and participants were asked to place them on the same scale of one to seven

based on how sour they tasted. The reference sample had 2.5% citric acid. The sample labeled

420M had 1% citric acid while sample S727 had 5% citric acid.

For the ~participants were given five samples of apple juice labeled 555 D7,

695 F8, 543 K8, 495 P2 and 192 L3. Participants were asked to rank the samples on a scale of

one to five using one as the sourest and five as the least sour. Then participants were asked to

rank the samples in order of preference on a scale of one to five usihg one as the most preferred

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and five as the least preferred. The samples had different dilutions of apple juice to citric acid.

Sample 555 D7 was 10% citric acid, 192 L3 was 5% citric acid, 695 F8 was 2.5% citric acid, 543

K8 was 1% citric acid and 495 P2 had 0% citric acid.

The Duo Trio test was conducted using samples of vanilla wafers. The first sample given - -contained one cookie placed in a one ounce container which was set as the standard and was

labeled 8175. Then two more cookies were given each in the same containers with the labels

6104 and 1108. Participants were asked to identify which cookie was different from the standard

and why. The options that were given for why was dryness, crunchiness or less vanilla flavor.

The standard and sample 1108 were both Nabisco Nilla Wafers while sample 6104 was Smart

and Final 's generic/brand First Street Vanilla Wafers.

Descriptive Test~

In the Descriptive test panelist were to evaluate four different foods using descriptive

words. The foods chosen were marshmallows, almonds, goldfish crackers and raisins. The

samples were served in one ounce white disposable cups with two to four pieces of each food per

container. Samples were to be evaluated based on different categories such as appearance, flavor,

texture, aroma, consistency and mouth feel. There were predetermined descriptive words

available for each category with approximately four to eleven different options for panelists to

choose.

Statistical Analysis J The professor and lab assistants counted the results by a show of hands for the beverage

color test, scoring test, ranking test and descriptive test. The results for the paired comparison,

triangle and duo trio tests were written down by each participant and then turned into the lab

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assistant who then tallied the results. The results were put into an excel spreadsheet for better

assessment. ~() rt<d OJ ~

Results

Color Association/Perception of Beverage

All43 panelists participated in the color association/perception of beverage study. The

Results for the sweetness test can be found in figure 1. The~ajority of panelists chose dark (z )~ J.

yellow (31%) and emerald green (28%) as the colors that looked the sweetest. Chartreuse (9%)

and light yellow( 11%) were chosen the least.

Figure 1- Results of perceived sweetness of a beverage judged by color.

Perceived Sweetness

Emerald Green 28%

Dark Chartreuse 21%

-------Light Yellow

------ 11%

Dark Yellow 31%

9%

Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

The results of the perceived sourness of beverage colors can be found in Figure 2. The

Majority of participants perceived Light Yellow (58%) as the sourest of all colors. 18% chose

dark yellow while 12% chose dark chartreuse. The least chosen were Chartreuse (7%) and

emerald green (5% ).

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Figure 2- Results of perceived sourness of a beverage judged by color.

Perceived Sourness 5% Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

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• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

The results of perceived artificiality can be found in figure 3. The majority of panelists at

79% chose Emerald Green as the most artificial colored beverage. 14% chose dark chartreuse

and 5% chose chartreuse. Only 2% chose dark yellow and 0 participants chose light yellow as

most artificial.

Figure 3- Results of perceived most artificial beverage judged by color.

Perceived ArtificiaUty o%\2% Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

The results of the most perceived natural beverage were very high for light yellow with

91 % of participant's votes. Only 7% of participants chose Dark Yellow while only 2% chose

chartreuse. None of the participants chose dark chartreuse or emerald green as the most natural

looking beverage.

igure 4- Results of perceived most natural beverage judged by color.

Most Natural

Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

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When asked which beverage the participants would most prefer to drink the majority

(63%) chose light yellow. The next most popular choice was dark yellow with 21 % of votes .

Chartreuse and dark chartreuse each got 7% of the votes while emerald green was only the most

preferred by 2%.

Figure 5- Results of participant's most preferred colored beverage in percentages.

Most Preferred Beverage Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

The least preferred beverage results can be seen in figure 6. The majority of panelists

(67%) chose emerald green as their least preferred beverage followed by 12% choosing dark

yellow. 9% of participants chose dark yellow and 7% chose dark chartreuse. Only 5% of

participants chose light yellow as their least preferred beverage.

Figure 6- Results of participant's least preferred colored beverage in percentages.

Least Preferred Beverage

Light Yellow

Dark Yellow

• Chartreuse

• Dark Chartreuse

• Emerald Green

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Participants were then asked which temperature they would choose to drink the different

colored beverages at. The majority of participants would chose to drink the beverages cold with

percentages varying from 88%-98%. For the temperatures of tepid, warm and hot the percentage

of participants varied from 0%-19%. The results of this study can be seen in full detail in Figure

6.

Light yellow

Dark Yellow

Chartreuse

Cold

98%

93%

88%

Tepid

5.00%

12%

19%

Warm

5.00%

0%

5%

Hot

2.00%

7%

0%

When asked whether or not participants would drink a beverage of light yellow color the

majority (86%) said yes while only 14% said no. The amount of participants willing to drink the

beverages declined as the colors became darker. 53% of participants would drink dark yellow

and 49% would drink chartreuse. 43% would drink dark chartreuse while only 26% would drink

the emerald green beverage. Full results can be seen in figure 7 below.

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Figure 7- Percentage of participants who would drink the different colored liquids.

120%

100%

80%

60%

40% Yes

20% 26%

0%

Light Yellow Dark Yellow Chartreuse Dark Emerald Green J Chartreuse

--

Paired Comparison

All 43 participants chose sample 573T2 which contained 1% citric acid as the sourest

when compared to sample 635T 1 which had no citric acid added.

Triangle Test r+ c;::r: I

When participants werf.~choose whic~a~le of apple juice was ditferent from

the other two, forty-two of the forty-three participants chose correctly. Only one participant

thought that sample 542 E2 which contained 0% citric acid was different from samples 777 Cl

(0% citric acid) and 112 H9 ( 1% citric acid)

Scoring Test

In the scoring test participants were given a reference apple juice (2.5% citric acid) with a

rank of 4 and asked to place samples 420M and S723 into a category on a scale of 1 to 7 based

on sourness. The scale used 1 being the sourest and 7 as the least sour. The majority of

participants (98%) placed sample S723 which contained 5% citric acid in categories 1-3, which

are sourer than the reference. There was one person which consis~ed of 2% who placed this

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sample at a category 5 which is less sour than the reference sample. 100% of participants placed

sample 420M, which contained the least amount of citric acid ( 1%) in categories 5-7 which

means they thought it tasted less sour than the reference. None of the participants thought that

either sample had the same amount of sourness as the reference which was categorized as a Four.

Full results can be viewed below in figure 8.

r 01\V -b I

1\ rr-~.1 Figure 8- Scoring of perceived sourness ~ .......-.... ~~!-I '--~ f'.....J V '<.) 5~ ,.

u • n=43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total %

420M (1% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 8 19% 27 63% 8 19%

5723 (5%) 20 47% 19 44% 3 7% 0 0% 1 2% 0 0% 0 0%

Ranking

All 43 students participated in ranking five different samples of varying sourness on a

scale of one to five. Sample 555 D7 which was 10% citric acid was ranked by 93% of

participants in category 1 as most sour. 192 L3 was 5% citric acid and was ranked as number 2

on the sourness scale by 84% of the participants. 695 F8 was 2.5% citric acid and was ranked as

number 3 on the sourness scale by 74% of participants. 77% of participants chose 543 K8 which

consisted of 1% citric acid as being number 4 while 90% chose sample 495 P2 which contained

no citric acid as the least sour by categorizing it as number 5. The complete results can be found

in figure 9 The figures highlighted are the correct matches (fj,_j ('___.

Fig"" 9- R•nklng• of •pple '""• <ontolnlng ""'' •<ld In vocylng •mo""" by ••"~ /1 /"-~---~

Sa mples 1- Most Sour 2 3 4 5~Least Sour 1: b---1/ (%)cit ri c acid Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % -

55507 (10%) 40 93% 0 0% 2 5% 0 0% 1 2%

695 F8 (2.5%) 1 2% 7 16% 32 74% 3 7% 0 0%

543 K8 (1%) 2 5% 0 0% 6 14% 33 77% 2 5%

495 P2 (O) 0 0% 0 0% 1 3% · 4 9% 39 90%

192 l3 (5%) 2 5% 36 84% 3 7% 0 0% 0 0%

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Duo-Trio

The Duo Trio test had only 41 participants due to two participants with food allergies.

Eighty Three percent of participants chose the correct cookie that differed from the standard.

This different cookie used was the generic store brand. Seventeen percent of participants

thought that the same Nabisco Nilla Wafer was different from the standard Nabisco Nilla Wafer.

The participants' then chose an adjective to describe what they thought was the biggest

di~ between the standard and the chosen different sample. 47% thought that crunchiness

was the biggest differential between the two while 35% thought that the vanilla flavor was the

biggest difference. Only 14% thought that dryness was the biggest variance. Figure 10 can be

seen below for further detail.

Figure 10

L Duo Trio- Which sainple is

different from the standard?

17%

n=41

Descriptive

Generic Brand (Differential)

Nabisco Nilla Wafer (Standard)

fla.\rhv is that sample J different?

Dryness

Crunchiness

• Less Vanilla Flavor

For descriptive tests the participants tasted samples of goldfish crackers, raisins, almonds

and mini marshmallows. They were asked to choose a word that best described appearance,

flavor, texture, aroma and mouthfeel. There were 41 participants sampling the goldfish. Figure

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ll shows the top three adjectives chosen to describe the product for each category. 32% chose

"golden brown" as the best way to describe appearance while 24% chose "dry" and 12% chose

"symmetric". For Flavor the majority (71 %) chose "salty" while 15% chose "sharp". Only 5%

chose "flat" as the best word to describe flavor. For texture almost half (49%) chose "crisp",

while 37% chose "crunchy" and 10% chose "flaky". 44% of participants thought that there was

"nothing" for aroma and 41 % the aroma was "flavory" . 1 2% thought that the aroma was "burnt".

44% of participants thought that the consistency was brittle while 12% thought that it was thin.

Another 12% thought that cheezy was the best way to describe consistency. The majority (71 %)

of participants chose crisp as the mouthfeel while 17% chose crunchy. 7% of participants chose

., f. gritty as the best way to describe mouthfeel.

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'11 f .::1 '"' L •.

Figure-11 _L \.JI f.l..ll. r;r~

Goldfish n=41 I u ~

Appearance Flavor Texture Aroma Consistency Mouthfeel Golden

Brown 13 32% Salty 29 71% Crisp 20 49% Nothing 18 44% Britt I e 18 44% Crisp 29 71%

Dry 10 24% Sharp 6 15% Crunchy 15 37% Flavory 17 41% Thin 5 12% Crunchy 7 17%

Symmetric 5 12% Flat 2 5% Flaky 4 10% Burnt 5 12% Cheezy 5 12% Gritty 3 7%

There were 42 participants sampling the raisins. Figure 12 shows the top three adjectives

used to describe the raisins for each category. For appearance 22% of participants chose the word

"sticky" while 17% chose the word "dry". Another 17% chose to describe the appearance as

"sunken". The majority of participants (66%) chose the word "sweet" to describe the flavor

while 22% chose "fruity" and 5% chose "bitter". 39% chose "gummy" as the best way to

describe texture while 29% chose chewy and 10% chose tender. For aroma 37% chose "sweet"

while 32% chose "fruity" and 15% thought there was no aroma. The majority (63 %) of

participants thought the consistency was chewy while 24% thought it was "gummy" and 10%

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chose "rubbery". For mouthfeel, 49% of participants thought the raisins were sticky while 20%

thought they were smooth and 15% thought they felt slimy.

Figure-12 <T-~ -~ ~1'3~~ ~~ -

Raisins n=42

Appearance Flavor Texture Aroma Consistency Mouthfeel

Sticky 9 22% Sweet 27 66% Gummy 16 39% Sweet 15 37% Chewy 26 63% Sticky 20 49%

Dry 7 17% Fruity 9 22% Chewy 12 29% Fruity 13 32% Gummy 10 24% Smooth 8 20%

Sunken 7 17% Bitter 2 5% Tender 4 10% Nothing 6 15% Rubbery 4 10% Slimy 6 15%

There were 41 participants in the almond sampling and descriptive study. Figure 13

shows the top three words used to describe the almonds for each category. For appearance 37%

thought they were "golden brown" while 22% thought they looked "dry". A different 22%

thought the almonds looked "light brown". 67% thought the flavor of the almonds was "nutty"

while 12% thought they tasted stale and 7% thought the flavor was flat. For texture 24% thought

they were crunchy while 20% thought they were hard and 20% described the texture as "firm". A

large majority of participant~ (88%) thought that there was no aroma while 5% thought the

aroma was "flavory" and 2% thought that it was "burnt". There were equal votes (46%) for

"chewy" and "thick" for consistency and only 2% thought the consistency was "buttery". The

majority (61%) of participants thought the mouthfeel was "crunchy" while 22% thought that it

'1 was "gritty" 7o/t. thought the mouthfeel was "crisp,"

~~~ 0 ~ ,/

r- Wx_~&-Figure-13

~ ~II .'-J

Almonds n=41 I Appearance Flavor Texture Aroma Consistency Mouthfeel Golden

Brown 15 37% Nutty 28 68% Crunchy 10 24% None 36 88% Chewy 19 46% Crunchy 25 61%

Dry 9 22% Stale 5 12% Hard 8 20% Flavory 2 5% Th ick 19 46% Gritty 9 22% Light

Brown 9 22% Flat 3 7% Firm 8 20% Burnt 1 2% Buttery 1 2% Crisp 3 7%

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There were 41 Participants that tested the marshmallows and chose the best descriptive

word for each category. The majority (83%) thought the appearance was "puffy" while 7%

thought it was "smooth" and another 7% thought that they appeared "dry". 76% of participants

chose "sweet" as the flavor while 12% chose "floury" and 5% chose "pasty". For texture 30% of

participants chose "velvety" while 22% chose "springy" and 22% chose "moist". A large

majority (80%) of participants thought the aroma was "sweet" while 17% thought that there was

no aroma and 2% voted the aroma as "flowery". The consistency most chosen was "gummy" at

34% while 22% thought it was "chewy". 15% thought the consistency was "buttery". Most

participants (70%) thought the mouthfeel was smooth. 12% chose sticky as the best way to

describe mouthfeel and 7% chose "slimy". The top three results of descriptive terms for

marshmallows can be found below in figure 14.

'-fl ?\_&

Figure-14 ~ .,... ~j

Mar~hmallow n=41 '--/l Appearance Flavor Texture Aro ma Consistency Mouthfeel

Puffy 34 83% Sweet 31 76% Velvety 12 30% Sweet 33 80% Gummy 14 34% Smooth 30 73%

Smooth 3 7% Floury 5 12% Springy 9 22% Nothing 7 17% Chewy 9 22% Sticky 5 12%

Dry 3 7% Pasty 2 5% Moist 9 22% Flowery 1 2% Buttery 6 15% Slimy 3 7%

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Discussion

Color Perception/Beverage Association

All 43 participants were able to take part in the .color association study. The results of the

perceived sweetness test shows that the dark yellow and emerald green were perceived to be

sweeter compared to the chartreuse and light yellow. This could be due to the fact that many

candies and sweets are often very bright vibrant colors to gain children's attention and

participants correlated those colors to higher amounts of sugar. The perceived sourness was

significantly high for light yellow at 58% and fairly low for the other colors. This might be

associated to the color of lemonade and its prominent sour taste.

Emerald green was voted the most artificial color by a significant amount while light

yellow was perceived to be the most natural by a significant amount. This can be explained by

the previous comment about light yellow being the color of natural lemonade and the color

emerald green being very rare in natural foods. There are many foods found naturally that are

different shades of green but none as bright as emerald green which explains why participants

perceive it to be artificially colored.

Due to all participants in the study being Food and Nutrition Majors it is not surprising

that many chose the natural looking beverage to also be the most preferred. Light yellow was

voted most preferred beverage most likely due to it being a natural color associated with real

foods. Inversely emerald green was chosen as the least preferred beverage. Natural foods without

artificial colors and preservatives are receiving more demand today especially from consumers

who are interested in health and nutrition. Ifttte-participaRt!'i l:lad e~roup of teenage btry'S- a

.,_,,me intense vibmnt cotm such as~ ffi'"• ..Us""""•• ~nost prefer~~

~· -'-er;'h}:>

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When participants were asked which temperature they would prefer to consume the

colored beverages the majority of consumers chose cold regardless of the color. The results of

this study directly correlate with many other studies including one by Catriona Burdon titled

Influence of Beverage Temperature on Palatability and Fluid Ingestion during Endurance

Exercise. This study was used to investigate the influence of beverage temperature on

palatability. The results showed that cool beverage temperatures ( <22 °C) significantly increased

fluid palatability, fluid consumption, and hydration during exercise vs. control (>22°C). (Burdon,

20 12). The fact that zero participants would choose to drink a chartreuse or dark chartreuse ~ colored beverage hot is not surprising because it is very rare that you would drink a beverage of ~ vivid green color hot. Most beverages served hot are coffee, tea or milk. The fact that one person o/ would choose to drink the emerald green beverage hot, but not the chartreuse or dark chartreuse

hot, is an interesting observation.

This study could have been improved if cond or third component of

smell or taste. Maybe the visual colors wo ts while the aromas of the

beverage would provide the opposite. It w ld be an interest" g study to show how aroma would

affect visual perception. \;e~ For the Paired Comparison test all participants were able to correctly identify the sourest

beverage which had 1% citric acid when compared to the sample without any added citric acid.

Although it is highly likely that the majority of students were able to distinguish the difference

between the two beverages it could be an error in testing due to the fact that participants raised

their hands to provide the results of the study. If one more students were truly unable to

distinguish the difference they might have just raised their hands when other participants did.

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?S@ AI ~ 'F

For the triangle test all except one student was able to distinguish which sample was

different from the standard. This could be due to the fact that the student really did perceive the

taste differently from everyone else but could also be an error in providing samples or the student

could have mixed them up upon receiving them. The collection of data could also be inaccurate

by the student raising his or her hand at the wrong time.

All participants were able to determine that the sample with 1% acetic acid was less

acidic than the standard with 2.5% acid. One out of forty three participants thought that the

sample with 5% acetic acid was less acidic than the standard with 2.5 % acetic acid . Again this

could be due to an error is passing out samples or an error in the participant mixing them up. An

error in reporting the result could have also occurred.

~Test ~--7

The majority of participants were able to determine where on a scale of 1-5 the samples

belonged according to their sourness. It seemed as though the results were more accurate when

judging the extremes such as the least sour or the sourest while there were more errors in judging

ranking the in between. This could be due to taste fatigue as at this point participants had tasted

over eight samples of apple juice with varying levels of sourness.

23

The duo trio test only had 41 participants due to food allergies. The majority of

participants (83%) were able to match the two similar cookies and choose the cookie that was

different. It is very likely that the standard and the differential were very similar in taste and

texture therefore some participants were unable to determine the difference. It could also be due

to taste fatigue. Almost half of the participants reported that the biggest difference between the

two samples was crunchiness.

These studies could be improved by having the students tested in a professional sensory

evaluation lab with separate work spaces where you are unable to see other participants. It could

also be improved by having the results written down instead of given in a group setting which

might cause students to change their answers or not give their full attention. Another way to

make the discriminative tests more efficient was to label the samples instead of verbally naming

the sample and having the participant try to remember which one is which. This could cause

multiple errors in assessing the samples and relaying the results.

Only 41 participants sampled the goldfish due to two panelists with food allergies. To

ensure the same standard number of panelists used for each experiment the instructors could

have disqualified those with food allergies or provided alternative samples to test. Most

participants though the goldfish appeared golden brown, dry and symmetrical. The majority of

participants thought that the flavor was salty with a few choosing sharp or flat. The texture was

most often described as crisp, crunchy and flaky. Many participants thought that there was no

aroma to describe the goldfish while a few thought they smelled flavory and burnt. There could

24

possibly be some inconsistencies with the goldfish samples due to the fact that each participant

only got two to four pieces. The majority of participants thought that the consistency was brittle

and the mouthfeel was crisp. These results seem to show just how different everyone's

perceptions and sense ·can be.

There were 42 participants sampling raisins. The appearance of the raisin seemed to get a

lot of different answers as the most common was sticky and only had 22% of the votes followed

by dry and sunken. The flavor was chosen predominantly as sweet and some chose fruity which

are both a very accurate description of raisins. The texture was chosen as gummy and chewy

which is also an accurate description. Some participants thought the aroma was sweet while

some participants thought that were was no aroma. This could be due to the fact that some

participants might have had a cold as there were a few participants coughing and sneezing

throughout the study. Their sense of smell and taste could have been diminished. The majority of

panelists described the texture as chewy and the mouthfeel as sticky.

The almonds were sampled by 41 panelists with most describing them as golden brown,

nutty and crunchy. Most participants thought there was no odor which can be hard to detect

when using a whole plain almond. 41 panelists also participated in sampling the marshmallow

which was described as looking fluffy and tasting sweet. The aroma was predominantly sweet

and the consistency was gummy. It makes sense to have a predetermined list of words for

students to choose from but some of them could have been chosen for lack of a better option.

The study might be improved by increasing the amount of words that participants can chose

from.

25

References

Aleson-Carbonell, L., Fermindez-L6pez, J., Sendra, E., Sayas-Barbeni, E. and Perez-Alvarez, J . A. (2004), Quality characteristics of a non-fermented dry-cured sausage formulated with lemon albedo. J. Sci. Food Agric., 84:2077-2084. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.1912

Beinner, Mark Anthony et al . Sensory evaluation of rice fortified with iron. Campinas, v. 30, n. 2, June 2010. Available from

Burdon, Catriona A. "Influence of Beverage Temperature on Palatability and Fluid Ingestion During Endurance Exercise: A Systematic Review." International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013.

Labbe, D. , Gilbert, F., Antille, N. , & Martin, N. (2009). Sensory determinants of refreshing. Food Quality and Preference, 20(2), 100-109.

Porto Cardoso, J.M. and Andre Bolini, H. M. (2008), Descriptive Profile of Peach Nectar Sweetened with Sucrose and Different Sweeteners. Journal of Sensory Studies, 23 : 804-816. aONG.llll/j.1715 4jflX..2~

Shankar, Maya U., Carmel A. Levitan, John Prescott, and Charles Spence. "The Influence of Color and Label Information on Flavor Perception." Chemosensory Perception 2.2 (2009): 53-58. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 .

LABORATORY REPORT EVALUATION FORM Nutrition 205

Student Name ~V\'SO.. \v'l.OhCAvYJvYlcd MECHANICS (20points)

Spelling Grammatical Usage Technical writing style Word Choice Punctuation Text Citation .. cif~ o.~rropn'o--~:ttp·'Z.) List of references . . . form/format • no \l'n K l .... '"' ~ '$

Professional appearance/overall quality~ o K

Appendices

CONTENT ( 1 00 points total)

Abstract ( 10 points) {0 Introduction (20 points) -~(CD..Jo!.._ __

Focus of review - Vexy 7\-):?r f -a }l pa.nct on s-t vd ~D..S Organization of review-~ocf Reference selection- ~1'-o- o.'fe.- wl-ru-> US~ ntt boo¥- NruO')~ ;T<l \\( f-1, Expansion beyond clasf waterial -'/.t<S ~r r~~

Methods (20 points) '1 ~\~ Clarity of description -Y\u...c::l 50~~~ ...... ~( ~--\~/t1-<6) Accuracy of description - f?\ood Organization - ~obh,.itru:H"~S ~~ -1- 2-D

Results (25 poin.ts) f -\9. A\\ st~ Appropnate data reduction -F~f!i!>f'g_f}041J p,\'1 . , ~ Appropriate tables/figures -la~ ~~ a<:.to.~(f.t~·,n,o~ cWa.i\ · . Clarit~ o~ tables/figures- Pvr +i-tlsL t\')s{d.R, iluL ~~onz.(rJ 0.,.~~4~1 Descnpt1ve/numerical data distinction -r,·'ft9.& Flow/development of the text Q

Discussion (25 r::>oints) . l . en r Companson/contrast w1th the literature-'-'12XY \•r.\-\e.Too much fo~us \ Correct interpretation of findings -~~c.1'~\-\~U~ .1.0) N~u to txp Identification of experimental error -'{-eS

SUBTOTAL OF FINAL EARNED POINTS MINUS ANY LATE PENALTY POINTS

FINAL TOTAL POINTS EARNED- POSSIBLE 120