Rapid Sensory Profiling Techniques

Applications in New Product Development and Consumer Research

Julien Delarue, Ben Lawlor

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781782422587
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Sensory analysis is an important tool in new product development. There has recently been significant development in the methods used to capture sensory perception of a product. Rapid Sensory Profiling Techniques provides a comprehensive review of rapid methods for sensory analysis that can be used as alternatives or complementary to conventional descriptive methods. Part one looks at the evolution of sensory perception capture methods. Part two focuses on rapid methods used to capture sensory perception, and part three covers their applications in new product development and consumer research. Finally, part four explores the applications of rapid methods in testing specific populations.

Part One

Evolution of the methods used for sensory profiling

1

The use of rapid sensory methods in R&D and research: an introduction

J. Delarue UMR1145 Ingénierie Procédés Aliments, AgroParisTech, INRA, Cnam, Massy, France

Abstract

This chapter analyses the recent evolution in the use of rapid sensory profiling techniques with respect to various situations where descriptive sensory information is needed in research, in product development, as well as in market research and consumer science. The most frequent objectives and constraints are reviewed in order to provide guidelines for users of rapid sensory methods. Implications of methodological changes in descriptive analysis are discussed. The chapter describes how the diversification of the sensory toolkit may impact on sensory activities, and why sensory scientists and their stakeholders should benefit from earlier and more integrated sensory measurements. Eventually, a SWOT analysis of rapid profiling methods is provided.

Key words

Integrated sensory measures

Sensory diversity

Profiling with consumers

Professional sensory expertise

Sensory toolkit

1.1 Introduction and context

1.1.1 Evolution in the use of descriptive analysis (DA)

Over the past decades, the use of sensory techniques has undergone drastic change. Sensory professionals in industry, as well as sensory scientists in academia, have changed the way they use these methods, and the way they use their outcomes in research and development projects. Students in sensory and food science programmes are now familiar with a series of different techniques, and the number of new methods published every year in the literature is accelerating. Among other factors, time and economic constraints that go along with industrial needs have certainly driven this evolution.

Description and quantification of human perception are difficult tasks, and sensory DA techniques are among the most sophisticated tools in the arsenal of the sensory scientist (Lawless and Heymann, 2010). “Sensory profiling” is often used as short-hand for sensory DA, which is in fact a name for a class of methods rather than a unique technique (Dijksterhuis and Byrne, 2005). For a review of these methods, see also Murray et al. (2001).

Sensory DA has long been a “must have” tool in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, and it has proven to be extremely useful to key industrial functions such as R&D and quality management. However, probably victims of their own success, conventional profiling methods such as quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA®) (Stone et al., 1974) or the Spectrum® method (Meilgaard et al., 1999) are becoming less adaptable to growing and changing demand. In everyday industrial practice, the need for descriptive information is now very diverse, and sensory services are frequently overwhelmed with demands from stakeholders who may have multiple objectives. The cost for accuracy and reliability of conventional profiling methods is time and effort. As a result, sensory teams that rely only on conventional profiling often cannot be fast enough to meet this demand. Also, these methods are not very flexible, and certainly lack adaptability, in the face of an ever-changing market. Some companies thus question the worth of time and investment in heavily trained panels, and look for faster and cheaper methods. Varela and Ares (2012) have pointed out that the constraints in having a trained descriptive panel could also be a problem in academic research, when a short project does not justify the training of a panel from scratch, or when the lack of funding does not allow it. Besides, although conventional profiling is considered as a reference measurement in DA, a more general observation is that it is questionable whether a single method can fulfil multiple different objectives.

1.1.2 Emergence of rapid sensory profiling methods

Following this evolution, sensory practitioners have started using various methods in addition to conventional profiling to capture sensory perception for their research or in the frame of product development. Some of these methods have been known for decades, whether in sensory science or other fields, while others are new or are adaptations of older methods. They can all be seen as rapid alternatives to sensory profiling although, strictly speaking, not all of them can be called sensory profiling methods as they do not rely on description per se, i.e. when products are described in terms of sensory attributes. However, like conventional DA, they may all provide access to the relative sensory positioning of a set of products, which is most often represented in the form of a sensory map. As a result, even if it may be considered improper usage, these methods are commonly referred to as rapid sensory profiling methods. In their review of new descriptive methods, Valentin et al. (2012) have categorized these alternative methods into three classes depending on the nature of the evaluation task assigned to the panellists: methods based on verbal descriptions of products (e.g. Flash Profile (Dairou and Sieffermann, 2002), check-all-that-apply (CATA) (Adams et al., 2007)); methods based on the measurements of between-product similarity or differences (e.g. Free Sorting (Lawless, 1989; Lawless et al., 1995) and its variants, projective mapping (Risvik et al., 1994) and napping (Pagès, 2003, 2005)); and methods based on the comparison of individual products with a reference or a set of references, as in polarized sensory positioning (PSP) (Teillet et al., 2010). Dynamic methods, such as temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) (Pineau et al., 2009), could form a fourth category, although TDS is also based on the use of attributes.

Interestingly, the increasing use of these “new” methods has been conducive to enlarging the scope of traditional descriptive sensory analysis, as is discussed later in this chapter and amply illustrated throughout this book. Thus, it is worth underscoring that these rapid sensory profiling techniques are not only rapid alternatives to conventional sensory profiling ones, but that they may also be used in situations where sensory profiling had not been previously possible.

1.1.3 Aims and needs

Today, the circumstances under which DA is needed are very diverse, and range from daily industrial practice to academic research, and from quality control to marketing studies. They differ in terms of both objectives and constraints. As a result, it would be inappropriate to rely on just one technique to fit all situations. Therefore, before going through the various sensory techniques presented in this book, it will be useful to review the different uses of DA with respect to these situations and the related objectives. Accordingly, it is important to analyse the major consequences in terms of requirements (what is needed) and constraints (applicability), as these considerations will generally guide the choice of a DA method. What is more, as noted by Dijksterhuis and Byrne (2005), the objectives (the “research question”) may also influence the methodological choices at different steps of a given sensory profiling study.

It should first be noted that quality control is outside the scope of this book, although it is an important field of application for sensory analysis. Rapid profiling methods are indeed not developed for the purpose of monitoring product changes over time, variations in raw materials or production, which require measurement tools that may take time to implement but which can be used with confidence in the long run. That is quite opposite to rapid profiling methods. Of course, one could imagine adapting some of these methods so that they could be used in a quality control context, but conventional sensory profiling or other dedicated methods would seem to be much more adapted. The reader interested in such use of sensory measurements is thus invited to refer, for instance, to Muñoz (2002) and Costell (2002).

1.1.3.1 Use of DA in R&D projects

Most R&D projects in the FMCG industry aim at developing new products, optimizing existing products, or maintaining product properties with respect to other constraints (e.g. supply issues, regulation changes, cost reduction, packaging, sustainability, etc.). In such projects, developers need to take into account the sensory properties of the products they are working on, even when they are not the primary focus of the project. The way the sensory properties are taken into account may, however, take different forms that in fact reflect different objectives. The most frequent objectives of DA are:

• To compare products with existing products on the market, to compare a new or an improved product to previous versions, or to compare several prototypes;

• To improve or to optimize. Most frequently, optimization is understood in terms of liking (but not limited to it). Therefore, it implies that one has the ability to relate the sensory properties of the product to liking, in order to identify drivers of preference and, ultimately, to determine optimal sensory properties;

• To understand how product formulae or process variables affect its sensory properties. An underlying objective is usually to acquire knowledge and develop technical skills and expertise;

• To communicate with others: other team members, other teams (marketing, suppliers and customers, subsidiaries, local teams, etc.).

One could easily imagine that, depending on these objectives, the needs for sensory information will differ. Sometimes, information on how products can be ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright page
• List of contributors
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition
• Part One: Evolution of the methods used for sensory profiling
• Part Two: Rapid methods for sensory profiling
• Part Three: Applications in new product development and consumer research
• Part Four: Applications in sensory testing with specific populations and methodological consequences
• Index