Sensory evaluation of poultry meat: A comparative survey of results from normal sighted and blind people.

Krzysztof Damaziak,Żaneta Zdanowska-Sąsiadek,Julia Riedel,Monika Michalczuk,Adrian Stelmasiak,Dariusz Gozdowski,Mateusz Bucław,Arda Yildirim

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210722

Abstract

Visual assessment is one of the key criteria in the sensory evaluation of foods. The appearance of food products may affect their perception by other senses, sometimes giving a false picture of their quality. A true assessment of such sensory attributes as aroma, taste, tenderness, and juiciness, which are components of the overall liking of food, without the use of instrumental methods is feasible only by blind people. We have advanced a hypothesis that blindness may modify the impressions perceived through other senses used in food evaluation. To confirm this hypothesis, a sensory testing of cooked breast and leg meat from various poultry species was conducted by normal sighted and blind panelists aged from 18 to 26 years. It has been demonstrated that the lack of sight is compensated by other senses, the intensified perception of which enables a more precise sensory evaluation of food in terms of such parameters as the aroma, tenderness and juiciness. Thus, blind people can be recommended as panelists evaluating the sensory profile of food products. Scores given by the sensory panel allowed the conclusion that the most desirable poultry meat was BM of broiler chicken and capon, followed by Guinea fowl. Lower scores were given by the panelists to meat of water fowl (goose, duck), whereas the lowest ones were assigned to cooked ostrich meat.

Highlights

Until recently, one of the most important criteria for food choice was its price
Noteworthy is the fact that based on scores given by the blind panelists, compared to those given by the sighted consumers, we were unable to indicate poultry species differing significantly (P > 0.001) between each other in terms of all sensory attributes of breast muscles (BM) assessed together
That the inclusion of the blind persons onto a panel evaluating the sensory profile of food–in our case of poultry meat–affords new methodological possibilities for the quality assessment of food products

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important criteria for food choice was its price. increased nutritional awareness by consumers, especially in developing countries, has made quality a new driving force behind purchase decisions. The concept of quality encompasses a multitude of headwords, the most common of which being: methods of food acquisition/production, health safety of food, its nutritive value, and sensory properties. Poultry meat sensory analysis by sighted and blind people despite being regarded as the most important quality traits of food products–are the most difficult to measure and the most subjective. There are several analytical and instrumental methods employed for food product assessment, including microbiological procedures, instrumental analyses of tenderness, springiness, color, taste, and other traits of the widely understood food quality. Sensory evaluation based on direct impressions remains a reference method and an invaluable measurement tool in food quality assessment [1]

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Conclusion