Chapter 2 - Functional foods: Sensory, instrumental, and statistical analysis

Abstract

This chapter describes methods for determining the efficacy of functional foods and nutraceuticals. If the functional food under investigation contains the nutraceutical of interest, it must be edible and acceptable to the subjects in the study. To ensure this, a variety of sensory tests capable of measuring both the food attributes and the degree of acceptance are covered. Such methods include descriptive analyses as well as consumer acceptability. Instrumental methods are also described including the electronic nose and tongue, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, texture, and color, to optimize the sensory characteristics of the functional food being prepared. These will provide additional information on the quality and acceptability of the specific functional food under investigation. The application of comprehensive statistical methods, such as partial least squares regression correlation, provides a detailed visual representation of the sensory characteristics of the functional food, both positive and negative, that are crucial for improving its sensory properties. For a functional food to be adequately assessed and ultimately deemed commercially viable it must be acceptable to the consumer.