Sensory Analysis of Food

The properties of a food are understood by the sense organs and are analyzed according to various schemes. It is a method in which food products are evaluated with sensory organs with sensory panel tests. Sensory Panel Tests are carried out especially during product development and quality control stages.

In order to understand the Sensory Panel Tests, the 5 senses must be understood first. Food can be evaluated sensorially by making evaluations with the senses of smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing.

- The sense of smell is a chemical sense and is affected by gender, age and environmental factors. As part of the sensory test, the sample should not be sniffed for a long time.
- The sense of taste is perceived through taste receptors on the tongue to distinguish between sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami tastes.
- The visual sense is used to determine the characteristic features such as color, shape, size and structure of the sample.
- The sense of touch is used to perceive the characteristic features such as consistency and temperature.
- The sense of hearing is a mechanical It is the sense and supports the taste and smell of the sample.

Reasons for performing sensory panel tests:
- Evaluation of marketability of products
- Determination of product profile
- Comparison of products
- R&D studies
- Product development