The method of sensory evaluation of cooked sausage using a reference profile

Abstract

The use of a food profile-descriptors method is promising for the sensory evaluation of specialized products with defined composition and standardized nutritional value. More than 100 enterprises in the Russian Federation produce the sausage for children’s nutrition (i.e. “For babies”) in accordance with GOST 31498-2012 requirements, whose sausage differs in sensory parameters from enterprise to enterprise. The aim of the work is to create a reference sensory profile of the cooked sausage for children’s nutrition. We used 5 samples of cooked sausages for children’s nutrition as an objects of research. These sausages were produced in accordance with GOST 31498-2018 in various regions of the Russian Federation. The samples were exposed to sensory (organoleptic) evaluation according to the method of scoring (GOST 9959-2015) and the profiling method. The descriptors dictionary was developed in accordance with the requirements of GOST 33609-2015. In order to assess the intensity of descriptors, a 10-point linear structured scale was used. Using the dictionary of descriptors, a reference sensory profile of the cooked sausage for children’s nutrition was developed. The developed reference profile contains a set of key descriptive parameters and characteristics that represent the referenced sensory properties of the food product and their intensity. The profile included 21 descriptors, for each of which a range of permissible deviations in intensity was defined. These measures enable to objectify the results of sausages evaluation and, comparing their sensory parameters, to improve the sensory properties of the food.