Comparing sensory and analytical chemistry flavor analysis

I. Quantitative descriptive analysis................................................................ 3 II. Flavor lexicons ............................................................................................... 3 III. Comparison of sensory analysis and analytical chemistry flavor analysis.............................................................................. 6 IV. Which is better? ............................................................................................. 7 A. Examples in which chemical analysis was better ............................ 8 1. Sour cream off-flavor ...................................................................... 8 2. Ice cream with burnt-feathers off-flavor ..................................... 8 3. Meat analog with beany off-flavor............................................. 10 B. Limitations of chemical analysis ....................................................... 11 C. Examples of the problem-solving capabilities of sensory analysis............................................................................... 12 1. Optimization of cheddar cheese taste in model cheese systems ............................................................. 12 2. QDA and PCA for sensory characterization of ultrapasteurized milk.............................................................. 13 3. Acceptance of reduced-fat ultrapasteurized milk by consumers 6 to 11 years old ........................................ 15 4. Cheddar cheese and powdered-milk lexicons ......................... 17 V. Linking sensory and chemical analysis to better understand flavor development................................................................ 18 A. Effect of antioxidant fortification on light-induced flavor of milk............................................................... 18 B. Characterization of nutty flavor in cheddar cheese....................... 19 References .............................................................................................................. 20 One of the earliest users of sensory analysis was the dairy industry. In the early 1900s, techniques for judging dairy products were developed to stimulate interest and educate people in dairy science. Judging and grading dairy products normally involve assigning quality scores to products by one or two trained “experts,” and evaluations are not replicated. Attributes scored include appearance, flavor, and texture, based on the presence or absence of predetermined defects. This approach has provided the dairy industry with a body of knowledge on sensory defects and their causes, and although these traditional methods are valuable for rapid product quality assessment in a hectic industrial setting, they are, in general, not useful for product innovation and development of new products that meet consumer acceptance.