Sensory research importance

Whereas there has been a huge interest in multimode calibration in the theoretical chemometrics literature, there are important limitations to the applicability of such techniques. Good, very high order, data are rare in analytical chemistry. Even three-way calibration, such as in DAD-HPLC, has to be used cautiously as there are frequent experimental difficulties with exact alignments of chromatograms in addition to interpretation of the numerical results. However, there have been some significant successes in areas such as sensory research and psychometrics. 

Since, especially for consumer journeys, it is important to measure product liking at the right place and time, we have chosen the consumer journey of a body care product as case study because it nicely offers the opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of mobile sensory research. 

Understanding quality perception. The starting point of a CQP-based quality assurance system should be the clear understanding of which product attributes are considered important and contribute to the quality perceptions of target consumers. This will help focus the system to control and assure only those attributes that are critical for quality perception. Decision-supporting tools can be found in the areas of consumer research, sensory studies, and new product design. 

Using these rhelogical methods laboratories for quality control and research and development have good tools to characterize pectins in gels and solutions. The most important points are the reproducable handling, pretreatment, and measurement of the samples and the knowledge which information can be derived from the measured data regarding the texture, the production parameters, and the sensory evaluation of the product. 

The determination and analysis of sensory properties plays an important role in the development of new consumer products. Particularly in the food industry sensory analysis has become an indispensable tool in research, development, marketing and quality control. The discipline of sensory analysis covers a wide spectrum of subjects physiology of sensory perception, psychology of human behaviour, flavour chemistry, physics of emulsion break-up and flavour release, testing methodology, consumer research, statistical data analysis. Not all of these aspects are of direct interest for the chemometrician. In this chapter we will cover a few topics in the analysis of sensory data. General introductory books are e.g. Refs. [1-3]. 

Texture is an important and complex quality characteristic. It is determined by variety and by structural and biochemical properties of tuber tissue, with some environmental influence. A considerable amount of research has been undertaken to replace subjective sensory evaluation with objective instrumental measurements (Van Dijk et al., 2002). 

We also feel there is room for extensive testing and research in new areas associated with this type of technology. For example, time dependent measurements may be important for various types of sensory evaluation. Previously, to achieve time dependent measurements was a tremendously exhaustive chore and may not have been able to be made using normal taste panel procedures and environments. With this type of application of microcomputers in sensory evaluation we foresee the use of time dependent measurements as a new area of possible development. 

The authors of this book provide an update of the methodology used in flavor research. Many improvements in instrumental sensitivities and capabilities have accrued in recent years, and state-of-the-art instrumentation and instrumental techniques for flavor analyses compose a substantial portion of this volume. New methods for extracting, derivatizing, and otherwise manipulating flavor compounds are another important part of this book, as are the chapters that deal with sensory evaluation. As editors, we are grateful to the authors for their contributions and to our respective employers for their support of our effort. 

---