Sensory characterisation of black ripe table olives from Spanish Manzanilla and Hojiblanca cultivars

Abstract

A lexicon from the literature has been used for the characterisation of black ripe table olives from Spanish Manzanilla and Hojiblanca cultivars by Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). After confirming the acceptable reproducibility and repeatability of the panel, the descriptors that received the widest range of scores and significantly contributed to sample discrimination were: skin green, flesh green, skin sheen, flesh red, fibrousness, firmness, skin red, moisture release, fishy smell/ocean and flesh yellow. The effects of cultivar, growing area and storage period on the sensory profiles were relevant, as showed by spider graphs and multivariate methods. The map of variables, using bootstrapping techniques, associated descriptors like fibrousness, firmness, chewiness, skin red, flesh red, and skin sheen to PC1, which can then be related to texture, while PC2 was linked to skin green and astringency (related to phenols) or vinegar and fishy smell/ocean (possibly connected to cultivars). Centring data by panelist had a strong influence on the segregation of samples but increasing the number of panelists had a reduced additional effect. The diverse sensory profiles of samples were also summarised by biclustering.