Butter colour affects sensory perception of spreadability

Abstract

Two butter samples of significantly different yellowness were subjected to cone penetration experiments to measure their apparent yield value, as an instrumental measure of spreadability, at different temperatures. A ten-member panel evaluated sensory spreadability of selected pairs of samples, adjusted to particular apparent yield values, by means of simple difference tests both in the daylight and in a dark-room under red light. The results imply that sensory perception of spreadability is heavily affected by butter colour. Whereas the results of the dark-room experiments were in line with instrumental measures, the more yellowish butter was selected as the “easier-to spread” sample when colour differences were perceptible by the panellists.