Efficiency assessment of Flash Profiling and Ranking Descriptive Analysis: a comparative study with star fruit-powdered flavored drink

Sensory descriptors for three edible Chilean seaweeds and their relations to umami components and instrumental texture

Although seaweeds exhibit many benefits as a food source, few studies have characterized their sensory attributes. An expert nine-member panel developed a vocabulary with 25 descriptors to describe the appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, and aftertaste of raw and cooked seaweeds consumed in Chile: Durvillaea antarctica, Pyropia spp., and Ulva lactuca. Subsequently, the vocabulary was used in a ranking descriptive analysis (RDA) to evaluate the sensory properties and relate them with physicochemical and physical data. Sensory attributes of the three seaweeds were very different from each other but similar between treatments (raw and cooked). Pyropia spp., both cooked and hydrated, had the highest glutamate content (310 and 324 mg (100 g) ^-1 d.w., respectively), and was perceived by the sensory panel as having the most umami taste. Cooked D. antarctica was perceived as sweeter, had more caramel notes than the hydrated seaweed and was sensed as cartilaginous and hard in accordance with its mechanical properties. Generalized Procrustes analysis revealed that D. antarctica exhibited most of the desirable descriptors, such as caramel, umami and marine aromas while U. lactuca was described as bitter and moldy. This primary vocabulary can assist food scientists and chefs in the development of seaweed products and dishes for the consumer market.

Comparison between quantitative descriptive analysis and flash profile in profiling the sensory properties of commercial red sufu (Chinese fermented soybean curd)

BACKGROUND

Red sufu is a type of sufu produced by solid-state fermentation of soybean curd and coloration with red mold rice. The purposes of this study were: (i) to characterize commercial red sufu samples using the quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and flash profile (FP) by ten trained and ten untrained panelists, respectively; (ii) to compare the differences in panel performance, descriptive abilities and sensory maps between the two methodologies; and (iii) to compare the efficiency between QDA and FP using red sufu as the matrix. Techniques in multivariate analysis were utilized to explore the data.

RESULTS

Results from generalized procrustes analysis (GPA) showed that panel performance by QDA was more repeatable and reached higher homogeneity than that by FP. Despite the confidence ellipse results of the 12 red sufus being better discriminated by QDA, the RV coefficient was high (RV = 0.852) between the configurations of the two-dimensional model (F1 and F2) of the two methodologies, indicating that the two methods are similar and closely related. Overall, QDA provided more accurate and detailed information, while FP provided a similar sensory map on product location and descriptive results.

CONCLUSION

The FP technique appeared to be an efficient alternative approach to quickly evaluate sensory properties, including appearance, flavor, aroma and textural properties of an array of red sufu products. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.