Discriminant analysis of Jijona nougat qualities

Abstract

Jijona nougat is a typical Spanish sweet-product which is mainly consumed at Christmas time in Spain, South America and other European countries. We have established the composition of Spanish nougat and have applied two mathematical models: Fischer discriminant analysis and segmentation analysis, to establish the most adequate parameter to classify the nougat in the categories laid down by the Spanish Regulations, i. e. “Suprema” and “Extra”. By using thus method it is unnecessary to carry out a complete analysis of the nougat constituents and it also serves as a quality control of the product. The two most easily determined parameters selected by the mathematical models from 33 samples of Jijona nougat were fat and protein. Therefore, it was only necessary to analyse fat and protein to assign nougat to a certain category.