What is sensory language? It is a combination of five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell). Organoleptic evaluation of products is based on the use of sensory organs. For products, in particular, a combination of taste, texture, astringency and aroma is used. Sensory evaluation is an invaluable tool for quality control and research and development. There is a whole science to the use of sensory methods - it is organoleptic.
An essential component of a quality control assessment
Customers perceive product quality with their senses, and as a result, organoleptic evaluations are an important component of any quality control evaluations. All technical, chemical, and microbiological parameters of a product may be within specification, but if the product does not meet sensory expectations or performs poorly with a competitor, product sales and brand image can be severely affected. Organoleptic methodsresearch and evaluation can also be used to develop sensory profiles when developing new products. Sensory evaluations are performed in the main organoleptic categories such as taste, texture, smell and color.
What are organoleptic indicators?
The following organoleptic indicators are distinguished:
- Taste - evaluates the taste profile of products.
- Texture - the texture of products is evaluated.
- Color - Colors are judged.
- Smell - olfactory evaluation of products.
Sensory (organoleptic) analysis is a scientific discipline that applies the principles of experimental design and statistical analysis to the use of the human senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing) for the purpose of evaluating consumer products.
Organoleptic properties of food
Organoleptic properties of food and other factors have a decisive influence on consumption and commercial success. Therefore, it is necessary to properly study, define and evaluate them. Organoleptic properties are described as: smell, taste, color, texture, and so on.
Attract results of qualitative and quantitative value. It should be noted that the sensory response is due to combinations of chemical sensations perceived through the example of taste buds on the tongue and palate, essentially non-volatile molecules, and the sensation of smell obtained through interaction with the olfactoryreceptors widely distributed in the nasal passages and mainly due to volatile substances.
How to evaluate the taste and texture? Obviously, the evaluation of these properties is carried out by specially prepared test panels for the identification and evaluation of flavors and the appearance of certain products. Panels are difficult to install and maintain, and the current trend is to replace or at least supplement touch panels with techniques such as in the case of odor gas chromatography and sensory systematic expert description. Modern methods of aroma chemistry are limited and not very technologically advanced. Evaluation panels, as we stated above, should be focused on a specific subject.
Taste
As mentioned above, the perception of taste occurs in the taste buds located on the tongue and palate. Substances tend to have a unique taste: what is perceived is often a complex sensation caused by one or more basic tastes: sour, s alty, sweet, and bitter. The product you are tasting is sour, s alty and sweet, in general, allows you to set rules related to the chemical function or chemical structure of the product.
S alt flavors usually come from inorganic s alts; sweet tastes can be predicted from the chemical structure; flavor acids are carboxylic functions defined in an organic product and flavor characteristic of inorganic acids.
Bitter taste does not follow the general rules, andbitter tastes are often found in a wide variety of chemical structures. However, amino acids and low molecular weight peptides are fairly well documented rules for prediction. As a curiosity, we note that bitter taste at low concentrations serves to highlight or improve the taste of foods, and in some cases as an indicator of quality.
Smell
What is organoleptic? This is a collection of sensory methods. The perception of the smell of foods is located in the nasal passages. Various methods are used to evaluate odors. In addition to instrumental methods using gas chromatographs and mass detectors, manual methods involve knowing how odors are perceived by recipients. Taste is less dependent on intensity, smell is a function of interaction with olfactory receptors, and it can vary depending on the intensity (concentration), temperature and time of exposure, and in some cases the presence of additives that increase the sensitivity of the receptor (glutamate, inosinate, guanylate, etc.). d.).
The participant's odor test can cause airflow through his nose up or down, that is, not only a sucking smell, but also smells of flying droplets can be received through the oral cavity, or transported to the olfactory receptors. It should be noted that this form of odor is widely used by wine and beverage tasters in general, as it homogenizes temperature and moist air to enhancetest accuracy.
Color
One of the organoleptic indicators is color. Organoleptic properties are the most easily standardized assessment. For the determination of the color of liquid and solid solutions and special spectrophotometers in the determination of color, well-defined color scales are available. However, they must describe the color of the products, as there are nuances that only the human eye is capable of. Liquids and solids can represent interference perception: transparency, opalescence in liquids, particle size, brightness, opacity of solids.
Texture
Sensory judgments can be scaled for "acceptance" or "liking" or specifically described in specialized terminology. The scale can be used to evaluate general quality or specific quality attributes. The texture and appearance of powdered solids in liquids together serve to describe various physical properties. The texture of solids is affected by particle size, product hygroscopicity, grinding, plasticity, and so on.
In liquids, the "look" changes mainly depending on their rheological properties and homogeneity. Organoleptic methods are subjective, sensory judgments based on the experience of the evaluator. Tasters may look, taste, chew, or otherwise taste products to judge the appearance, color, integrity, texture, and flavors of the product.
Organoleptic method: organoleptics
Most large consumer goods companies have divisions dedicated to sensory analysis. These judgments are very often used to test different product categories such as dairy products, seafood (fresh, frozen, chilled or cooked) and so on. Desirable and undesirable features of various methods of judgment have been explored.
The considered methods in organoleptics are methods that use the senses as the primary measuring device. Therefore, they are sensory methods of analysis in contrast to physical, chemical and microbiological methods. Moreover, it is worth noting that this is not only a tasting, which is a taste test of a certain product. A variety of organs may be involved in the analysis.
Organoleptics is a science that is based on the natural sensations of a person. In the culinary arts, these methods are used to naturally evaluate such criteria as the quality of the finished dish and a variety of culinary products. Considered criteria such as taste, color, texture and smell are called organoleptic indicators by which product quality is assessed.