Food quality is an important concept because the food people choose depends largely on quality. Consumer preference is important to the food manufacturer, who wants to gain as wide a share of the market for the product as possible. Quality is difficult to define precisely, though it refers to the degree of excellence of a food and includes all the characteristics of a food which are significant and make the food acceptable.
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Used to determine whether a specific consumer group likes or prefers a particular product.
Sheet of paper on which the panelist receives pertinent sample information and instructions, and on which observations are recorded during a sensory test.
Descriptive tests:
Specialized difference tests used to describe specific flavor attributes of a product, or to describe degree of difference between products.
Discrimination or difference tests:
Used to determine if there is a perceivable difference between samples.
Duo–trio test:
Samples include a reference food and two samples, one of which is the same as the reference.
Ability of a material to stretch when a force is applied and to return to its original position when the force is removed.
Likeability test:
Panelists rate a sample on a hedonic scale from “dislike extremely” to “like extremely.”
Master sheet:
Details the specific three-digit product numbers and positions for every panelist in a sensory test. Used to ensure that each product is seen an equal number of times in each position so that bias is avoided.
Textural qualities of a food as perceived in the mouth.
Newtonian liquid:
The viscosity is independent of the shear rate. Stirring or shaking does not make the liquid runnier or thicker. Examples are water, sugar syrups, and wine.
Non-Newtonian liquid/fluid:
Apparent viscosity depends on the shear rate. Catsup gets thinner with increasing shear rate, whereas some gums thicken with increasing shear rate.
Objective evaluation:
Involves use of physical and chemical techniques to evaluate food quality, instead of variable human sensory organs.
Material flows when subjected to a certain minimum force; material can be molded.
p Value:
Statistical probability that a result is significant. A p value of 0.01 indicates 99% confidence that a result is significant. In other words, out of 100 trials, the same result would be expected 99 times. The probability of the opposite result occurring is only 1 in 100 trials.
Ranking test:
Panelists rank two or more samples in order of preference or intensity for a particular attribute.
Science of the deformation and flow of matter, how a food reacts when force is applied; it includes elasticity, viscosity, and plasticity.
Sensory testing:
Use of senses to evaluate products; it involves consumer opinion.
Concentration required for identification of a particular substance.
Triangle test:
Three samples, two of which are alike, one is odd.
Savory taste, given by substances such as monosodium glutamate.
Resistance to flow of a liquid when a shear force is applied. Liquids with a low viscosity flow readily, whereas liquids with a high viscosity flow slowly.
© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Vaclavik, V.A., Christian, E.W., Campbell, T. (2021). Evaluation of Food Quality. In: Essentials of Food Science. Food Science Text Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46814-9_1
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