Improving the characteristics of a sensory response during jury training

Abstract

Sensory analysis is a scientific discipline that involves analyzing products in a controlled, standardized way. It requires a panel of tasters to produce an average of the tasting results. The aim of this study is, on the one hand, to list the difficulties associated with panel performance and, on the other, to provide input for the development of panelist training. The jury was made up of men and women over the age of 18. They were engineering and doctoral students respectively from the School of Agricultural Sciences and the Polytechnic Doctoral School. The scoring sheet was used to specify preferences in terms of food tastes, flavors, textures, aspects and colors. Next, respondents were asked to indicate any dietary constraints or allergies they might have, and their level of interest in the project. The improvement in the jury's performance was most pronounced on repeatability. The results show that 24 simple descriptors were used, as the jury had drawn up this list and demonstrated the ability to evaluate them. In addition, 50% of tasters had normal sensory acuity. Evaluation of the panel's discrimination performance revealed that 95.11% to 99.51% were able to differentiate between the concentrations of the products presented to them. Finally, the different stages studied are consecutive and require personal application to better judge the target product.