Question

1. What sensory tests would you apply for your newly developed product? And why?

Answer 1

Sensory testing -It is the technical approach to the prediction of consumer acceptability. Types of technical approach,

*Affective

*Discriminative

*Descriptive

1)Affective-this category includes both preference and acceptance test. For the purpose of product development, it might be well to point out that one product may be preferred to another without being an acceptable product. Affective tests are used in product development including ranking , paired comparison and word action rating scales. Their main disadvantages are that

*they give no indication of magnitude of preference.

*they evaluate samples only in relationship to each other.

2)Discriminative-this determines the similarities or differences between products. They include standard difference test and sensitivity tests.Generally all discriminative tests measure differences in terms of threshold. Ifvwe are using difference panelists as being representative of the consumer we will select them on the basis of product usage or some other consumer criteria.

3)Descriptive Tests- they are usually both qualitative and quantitative. They yield a simple description of product characteristics and relative intensity values . Specific methods for descriptive analysis of flavour and texture have been developed. These are the profile methods.They are based on the use of reference standards and standardized evaluation procedures. Simple rating scales are used for intensity.

NEEDS OF SENSORY TESTS

*sensory testing can help you to get inside the mind of customer giving you valuable insight how they perceive your product through their primary senses.

* sensory testing can be vitally important for existing products. It may be that you want to change the recipe according to the trends or statistical data gathered elsewhere.