Tag: Sensory evaluation

Studies show that approximately 80% of what we perceive as 'taste' is actually detected by our sense of smell. Whether you're a food safety professional, a home chef, or a culinary enthusiast, knowing how do you sample food with precision is a fundamental skill that goes far beyond a simple bite.

According to the World Bank, food security is measured along four dimensions: availability, access, utilization, and stability. To ensure food is safe and desirable for consumption, it's essential to understand and monitor the various food quality indicators throughout the supply chain.

Food companies routinely use sensory panels and advanced instruments to evaluate texture, as studies show it is a key driver of consumer preferences and purchase decisions. So, how do we determine the texture of food? The process involves both human perception and objective, mechanical measurement.

Many foods we consider vegetables, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, are botanically classified as fruits. To accurately answer 'how can we describe fruit?', we must go beyond simple adjectives and delve into the complex interplay of sensory characteristics, from taste and texture to aroma and appearance.

Rice is a staple food for over half the world's population, fulfilling a significant portion of daily caloric needs. The analysis of rice is a critical process involving a range of tests to determine its quality, nutritional value, and safety for consumption.

According to the Institute of Food Science and Technology, sugars each have a different sweetness intensity, with sucrose acting as the principal standard. The concept of a '3 degree of sweet' is a linguistic misunderstanding, contrasting the grammatical 'sweet, sweeter, sweetest' with the complex scientific methods used to quantify taste.

Over 200 different chemical compounds possess a sweet taste, making the quantification of sweetness a complex sensory science. This guide will explain how do you calculate relative sweetness by comparing various sweeteners to a common standard, typically sucrose, which is assigned a reference value of 1.0 or 100.

According to research published in the *Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry*, sensory properties, including appearance and flavor, are the most influential factors affecting consumer acceptance of new products, highlighting why it's critical to know what to include in a food evaluation. A systematic, multi-faceted approach ensures not just palatability but also consistency and safety.