Sensory Evaluation Techniques and Consumer Perception Studies for Food Product Innovations

Abstract

Sensory quality is of great importance to both processors and consumers, since it attracts consumers; it satisfies consumers’ aesthetics and gustatory sense. Sensory quality is the combination of sensory senses of perception responsible for choosing and eating a food. Discrimination tests, descriptive analysis and affective or hedonic testing are the three primary types of sensory tests which focus on the existence of overall differences among the products. Sensory tests provide useful information about the human perception of product changes due to ingredients, processing, packaging, or shelf life. Sensory evaluation or testing is a quantitative science in which numerical data are collected to establish lawful and specific relationships between product characteristics and human perception. The human senses have been used for centuries to assess the quality of foods. One important class of sensory test methods is to quantify the perceived intensities of the sensory attributes of a product.