The senses and taste
- We judge food with our senses: sight (colour and presentation), smell (aroma), taste, touch and mouthfeel (texture), and even hearing (the crunch of crisps).
- The five basic tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savoury). Taste receptors on the tongue detect them.
- Smell has a big effect on flavour, which is why food tastes bland with a cold.
Sensory testing
- Preference tests find which food people like: hedonic ranking uses a scale such as a smiley face or 1 to 5.
- Discrimination tests find whether people can tell foods apart: the triangle test gives three samples, two the same and one different.
- Grading and ranking tests put samples in order, such as from least to most salty.
- Rating tests score attributes; results can be shown on a star profile (radar chart).
Setting up fair tests
- Use a quiet area, and small samples at the same temperature.
- Label samples with random codes, not names, so tasters aren't influenced.
- Give tasters water to drink between samples, and clear instructions.
- Use the results to improve recipes, such as reducing sweetness.
Key terms
- Sensory evaluation
- Judging food using the senses.
- Umami
- The savoury taste, found in foods such as cheese and mushrooms.
- Hedonic ranking
- A preference test using a scale of liking.
- Triangle test
- A test with three samples, two the same, to see if people can spot the odd one.
- Star profile
- A chart showing how a food scores for different attributes.
- Mouthfeel
- How a food feels in the mouth, such as creamy or crunchy.