Sensory Evaluation of Food

The ?eld of sensory science has grown exponentially since the publication of the p- vious version of this work. Fifteen years ago the journal Food Quality and Preference was fairly new. Now it holds an eminent position as a venue for research on sensory test methods (among many other topics). Hundreds of articles relevant to sensory testing have appeared in that and in other journals such as the Journal of Sensory Studies. Knowledge of the intricate cellular processes in chemoreception, as well as their genetic basis, has undergone nothing less than a revolution, culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize to Buck and Axel in 2004 for their discovery of the olfactory receptor gene super family. Advances in statistical methodology have accelerated as well. Sensometrics meetings are now vigorous and well-attended annual events. Ideas like Thurstonian modeling were not widely embraced 15 years ago, but now seem to be part of the everyday thought process of many sensory scientists. And yet, some things stay the same. Sensory testing will always involve human participants. Humans are tough measuring instruments to work with. They come with varying degrees of acumen, training, experiences, differing genetic equipment, sensory capabilities, and of course, different preferences. Human foibles and their associated error variance will continue to place a limitation on sensory tests and actionable results. Reducing, controlling, partitioning, and explaining error variance are all at the heart of good test methods and practices.

Sensory Evaluation of Food covers all the basic techniques of sensory testing, from simple discrimination tests to home use placements for consumers. The fundamental theories, both psychological and statistical, are presented, which form the basis and rationale for sensory test design.

The ?eld of sensory science has grown exponentially since the publication of the p- vious version of this work. Fifteen years ago the journal Food Quality and Preference was fairly new. Now it holds an eminent position as a venue for research on sensory test methods (among many other topics). Hundreds of articles relevant to sensory testing have appeared in that and in other journals such as the Journal of Sensory Studies. Knowledge of the intricate cellular processes in chemoreception, as well as their genetic basis, has undergone nothing less than a revolution, culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize to Buck and Axel in 2004 for their discovery of the olfactory receptor gene super family. Advances in statistical methodology have accelerated as well. Sensometrics meetings are now vigorous and well-attended annual events. Ideas like Thurstonian modeling were not widely embraced 15 years ago, but now seem to be part of the everyday thought process of many sensory scientists. And yet, some things stay the same. Sensory testing will always involve human participants. Humans are tough measuring instruments to work with. They come with varying degrees of acumen, training, experiences, differing genetic equipment, sensory capabilities, and of course, different preferences. Human foibles and their associated error variance will continue to place a limitation on sensory tests and actionable results. Reducing, controlling, partitioning, and explaining error variance are all at the heart of good test methods and practices.

PrefaceI Appendix I - Basic Statistical Concepts for Sensory EvaluationII Appendix A II- Nonparametric and Binomial-based Statistical MethodsIII Statistical Appendix III- Analysis of VarianceIV Appendix IV- Correlation, Regression and Measures of associationV Appendix V - Statistical Power and Test Sensitivity1 Chapter 12 Physiological and Psychological Foundations of Sensory Function3 Principles of Good Practice4 Discrimination Testing5 Similarity, Equivalence Testing and Discrimination Theory6 Measurement of Sensory Thresholds7 Scaling8 Time-intensity Methods9 Context Effects and Biases in Sensory Judgment10 Descriptive Judgment11 Texture Evalution12 Color and Appearance13 Preference Testing14 Acceptance Testing15 Consumer Field Tests and Questionnaire Design16 Qualitative Consumer Research Methods17 Quality Control and Shelf-life (Stability) Testing18 Data relationships and multivariate applications19 Strategic ResearchTables A-Q