A COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A TRAINED SENSORY PANEL1

Cluster analysis, consonance analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and the GRAPES program (Schlich 1994) were compared for the evaluation of panel performance. Ten judges evaluated 25 Merlot wines for 24 color, aroma and flavor attributes. Cluster analysis grouped similar judges. PCA identified judges according to their attribute use. Consonance analysis determined a numerical index for attribute agreement and the GRAPES program compared judges in their use of the scale, reliability, discrimination and disagreement. Three of the four techniques provided a graphical representation of similarities and differences between judges. Methodologies were best used in conjunction with one another. Ultimately the application of these tools will serve to improve the quality of sensory evaluations.     

EVALUATION OF RANGE-GRAZED AND CONCENTRATE-FEDBEEF BY A TRAINED SENSORY PANEL, A HOUSEHOLD PANEL AND A LABORATORY TEST MARKET GROUP

A trained sensory panel and a household panel evaluated leaner range-grazed and higher grading concentrate-fed beef for sensory characteristics. The findings were compared to those from a laboratory test market study designed to determine the consumer appeal of branded range-grazed beef when compared to concentrate-fed beef. Broiled steaks from concentrate-fed steers were scored more flavorful, more tender, more juicy and more desirable overall than those from range-grazed steers by the trained sensory panel and by the household panel. In the laboratory test market study steaks from range-grazed steers were nearly equal in acceptance to those from concentrate-fed steers because consumers, although accustomed to concentrate-fed beef in their marketplace, compromised palatability for meat they perceived to be leaner and more healthful.     

THE EFFECTS OF COLORED TEXTURED SOYBEAN PROTEIN (TSP) ON SENSORY AND PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF GROUND BEEF PATTIES

Defatted soybean flour mixed with a combination of 0.03% Red No. 40 and 0.01% annatto ( Bixa orellana ) colorants was extruded into textured soy protein (TSP) in a counter-rotating twin extruder to produce a red-meat like product suitable for hamburger patties. Ground beef patties were processed replacing the meat (15 and 30%) with resulting hydrated textured soybean protein (TSP) prepared with and without the colorants. The resulting cooked patties were evaluated by eight trained judges for tenderness, juiciness, number of chews, beef flavor and overall flavor quality using a nine point nonstructured horizontal scale. Other patty characteristics examined included cooking losses (weight loss and diameter reduction) and color, by tristimulus colorimetric measurement. The results from sensory analysis revealed that ground beef patties with high TSP level were more tender than control, and they had less beef flavor and overall flavor quality. Weight loss was not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by TSP level but the patties with 30% TSP showed less shrinkage than the others. Results of the study suggested that while patties with 15% TSP had sensory attributes similar to the control, adding 30% TSP with coloring significantly (P < 0.05) increased the redness of the patties.     

INFLUENCE OF PANEL INCONSISTENCY ON THE OUTCOME OF SENSORY EVALUATIONS FROM DESCRIPTIVE PANELS

Different types of panelist by treatment interaction are explored to determine how they influence the outcomes of discrimination tests. The study compares the situations where panelists are considered as fixed or random effects over the range of most testing conditions for small panels (5–15 panelists) that replicate their judgements. Magnitude interaction and nonperceivers or nondiscriminators have minor effects on test outcomes. Cross-over interaction increases the chances for a type II error, especially when panelists are considered as random effects. False discrimination increases the chances for a type I error when panelists are considered as fixed effects. Applications of methods to reduce the chances for these errors in the testing for differences among treatments are discussed.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A TEXTURE PROFILE PANEL FOR EVALUATING RESTRUCTURED BEEF STEAKS VARYING IN MEAT PARTICLE SIZE

A texture profile panel was developed for measuring textural properties of restructured beef steaks differing in meat particle size. For steaks of different particle sizes, considerable differences existed in the type of sample breakdown and shape of chewed pieces after just two chews. Panelists also found restructured steaks made from large meat particle sizes to be visually more distorted and to contain more gristle than steaks made from small meat particle sizes. Several characteristics (chunkiness after two chews, coarseness of chewed mass at 15 chews) were dropped from the profile over time, while several characteristics (type of sample breakdown and shape of chewed pieces at two chews, size of chewed pieces at 10 chews) not used initially, were added. The texture profile panel approach appears suitable for discerning the textural differences in restructured steaks that can arise from using different meat particle sizes during processing.     

川楝素抑制粘虫幼虫化学感受器诱发峰的观察

用充以肌醇(20m mol/L)或蔗糖(10m mol/L)的玻璃微管做刺激-记录电极接触粘虫(Mythimna separata)幼虫的下颚须或下颚瘤状体顶端,可诱起化学感受器发放峰。这种作用在感受器同渍过川楝素溶液(5×10^-5g/ml)的滤纸接触15分钟后被抑制。冲洗或经一段时间自行恢复后,抑制可逐渐解除。进一步提高川楝素浓度可使感受器对肌醇和蔗糖的反应完全和不可逆地丧失。     

EFFECTS OF SAMPLE SIZE AND PRIOR MASTICATION ON TEXTURE JUDGMENTS

Two experiments were conducted. In the first, 25 untrained subjects judged the hardness and chewiness of three different food samples following either 0, 60, 120, or 180 s of adaptive chewing on an experimental gum compound. No effect of the adaptive chewing was found, in spite of observable and self-reported masticatory fatigue induced by the experimental procedures. These data fail to support the prevalent use of procedural limits on the number and temporal spacing of samples in sensory texture studies. In the second experiment, six groups of subjects (n = 107) judged the hardness and chewiness of two series of food samples that varied in physical size (volume). The groups differed in the degree to which cues about the true size differences were made available. Results showed both hardness and chewiness judgments to increase as a function of sample size, independently of subject awareness of the size differences. These data support the use of procedural controls on sample size, but fail to provide evidence of a size constancy phenomenon. A rheological explanation is proposed to account for the observed sensory effect.     

MODELING THE EVOLUTION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF A SENSORY PANEL: A MIXED-MODEL AND CONTROL CHART APPROACH

A sensory panel is often used to profile the same type of product with the same set of attributes for many years. We are interested in characterizing the evolution of the performance of such a panel (and its panelists) over time. This article presents a methodology based on a mixed‐model approach that takes into account the evolution of both panel and panelist in the same model. At the panel level, linear and quadratic evolutions of the performance are tested. At the panelist level, the method allows detection of whether some panelists perform better than others, and whether this difference remains the same or evolves over time. This mixed‐model approach is followed by a graphical representation using a control chart method to identify occasional outliers. Data used to illustrate this methodology are eight sensory profiling data sets collected on ready‐made frozen meals between 1997 and 2001 (every 6 months). The performance index chosen as an example in this study is the individual repeatability measured by standard deviation over replicates.     

THE EFFECT OF SONIC OSCILLATION ON THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF BEEF HEART MITOCHONDRIA

The brilliantly fluorescent cytoplasmic particles that accumulate in HeLa cells treated with acridine orange, previously referred to as acridine orange particles, are shown to represent acid phosphatase positive multivesicular bodies (MVB). Dynamic changes in the ultrastructure of these organelles may be induced by varying the concentration of extracellular dye and the length of exposure to the dye. Low concentrations of dye for long intervals of time lead to marked hypertrophy of the MVB and accumulation of myelin figures within them, the acid phosphatase activity being retained. High concentrations of dye for short time intervals lead initially to a diffuse distribution of dye through out the cytoplasm (cytoplasmic reddening) as viewed in the fluorescence microscope. When cells are stained in this way and incubated in a dye-free medium, the diffusely distributed dye is segregated into MVB within 1 hour. Ultrastructurally, these MVB show dilatation but no myelin figures. The process of dye segregation is energy dependent and will not occur in starved cells. This energy dependence and the occurrence of segregation via dilatation of the MVB rather than ultrastructural transformation, i.e. formation of new binding sites, suggests that the process involves an active transport mechanism. Of the various energy sources supplied to starved cells, only glucose, mannose, and pyruvate are fully effective in supporting dye segregation. Blockage of the tricarboxylic acid cycle with malonate inhibits the effects of pyruvate but not of glucose, demonstrating the efficacy of both the tricarboxylic acid and glycolytic cycles in supplying energy for the process.     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECT OF ADDED HYPOCHLORITE ON THE NUMBERS AND KINDS OF BACTERIA IN MILK

SUMMARY: In an investigation of the effect of added hypochlorite on the bacterial flora and bacterial numbers of milk no bactericidal action was apparent within 15 min of adding the disinfectant unless at least 500 p/m available chlorine had been added. After 24 hr storage at atmospheric temperature a reduction in numbers was found with 10 p/m available chlorine and this became more pronounced with increased concentrations. Micrococci seemed more susceptible to the bactericidal effect than streptococci, which formed, after 24 hr storage, the predominant residual flora where 250 and 500 p/m available chlorine had been added. Acid production by lactic streptococci was retarded at concentrations greater than 50 p/m available chlorine in a 5 hr incubation period at 30°, but after a 24 hr incubation the decrease in acid production was only apparent when 500 or 1,000 p/m available chlorine was present. Little effect on acid production by lactic streptococci was found when less than 50 p/m available chlorine had been added. The residual chlorine content of rinses of equipment sterilized in hypochlorite solutions was negligible.     

A COMPARISON OF METHODOLOGY APPLIED TO THE SELECTION OF A PANEL FOR SENSORY EVALUATION OF INSTANT COFFEE

Twenty judges performed a variety of chemosensory tasks in order to select the best scores to form a panel for coffee evaluation. An average of correct responses (P%), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal components analysis (PCA) were compared. The tests involved: ability to recognize the four basic tastes, identification and matching of odors, taste intensity evaluation and perception of small differences in taste. P% accounted for 71.17 ± 4.34% and 10 of the judges had scores greater than the final average. ANOVA and PCA resulted in 2 different panels consisting of 9 and 12 judges, respectively. The panel was composed by the nine panelists selected by the three methods. The other three panelists that were doubtful could improve to the point of acceptance with additional training. These methods should be used simultaneously to have more security in the acceptance or rejection of panelists.