Sensory and Instrumental Evaluation of Alcoholic Beverages

Hildegarde Heymann, Susan E. Ebeler

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128027271
• eBook ISBN: 9780128027479
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Sensory and Instrumental Evaluation of Alcoholic Beverages introduces the value of sensory analysis to the alcoholic beverage industry through the detailed lens of sensory analysis techniques. From traditional methods, to the most modern rapid methods, this book presents comprehensive insights and applications.Analytical methods for identifying and assessing the flavor compounds present in the beverages are included that address both volatile and non-volatile techniques, along with rapid methods of assessment. Case studies highlight the testing of different types of alcoholic beverages running the entire gamut of methods and the appropriate subset of methods. Also included is information of data analyses with the appropriate R-codes to allow practitioners to use the book as a handbook to analyze their own data.- Uniquely focused on alcoholic beverages and their assessment- Includes real-world information for practical application- Presents a full range of methodologies, providing key comparative insights

1

Sensory perception

Abstract

Flavor perception in alcoholic beverages is the integration of information from the senses of vision, gustation, olfaction, and the somatosensory and trigeminal systems. These senses are complex and each has inherent genetic and phenotypic variability. In this chapter we describe the receptors, transduction, and neurointegration for the aforementioned senses. We also highlight normal human variability and caution sensory practitioners to take these into account when designing sensory studies. Finally, we briefly discuss the effects of multisensory integration due to receptacle, background color and ambient noises of flavor perception. We conclude with the statement that sensory scientists must keep in mind that the senses affect each other.

Keywords

flavor perception

vision

gustation

olfaction

chemesthesis

transduction

multisensory integration

In this chapter

1.1 Vision

1.2 Gustation

1.3 Olfaction

1.4 Chemesthesia

1.5 Flavor

References

“Flavor is the psychological interpretation of the physiological response to a physical stimulus.” This definition, said to one of us in 1986, by Milton Bailey, a professor of meat flavor at the University of Missouri, has resonated with us ever since. It neatly encapsulates the three entities required to perceive flavor—a human with a functional brain, a working sensory system, and a physical stimulus in the form of chemical compounds. This chapter focuses on the human sensory system and the transduction of information to the brain. We will briefly describe how the sensory systems for vision, olfaction, gustation and chemesthesis work. We will also describe some of the related neurobiology research relevant to each of these systems. Finally, we will highlight the variability in these systems from person to person.

1.1. Vision

Humans see because the photoreceptors in the human eye respond to the visible spectrum (about 380–760 nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum which encompasses radio waves to cosmic rays (MacKinney and Little, 1962). When light waves strike an object, a portion of those waves reflect off the object. The light that is reflected from the object is seen by the eye. In other words, a red rose looks red because all the light waves in the visible spectrum except red are absorbed by the rose petals and only red is seen by the eye. Light penetrates the eye through the cornea, pupil, and lens and is focused on the retina in the area of the fovea (Fig. 1.1). In this area there is a mosaic of rods and cones that contains the light-sensitive receptors, also known as opsins or pigments, each pigment responds to light waves of differing lengths. There are about 120 million rods, located to the periphery of the fovea, and these receptors are very sensitive under very low–light conditions and are responsible for scotopic or dark-adapted vision (Kang et al., 2009). The photoreceptor in the rods is rhodopsin and it has a maximal absorption at about 498 nm (Wissinger and Sharpe, 1998). At scotopic levels of illumination the amount of light is below the threshold of the color-sensitive cones but the very sensitive black and white sensing rods are active (Barbur and Stockman, 2010). However, the rods bleach under bright lights and thus would not be a factor when we do sensory evalua...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Sensory perception
• Chapter 2: Uses and good practices of sensory evaluation in the alcoholic beverage industry
• Chapter 3: Overview of applicable sensory evaluation techniques
• Chapter 4: Uses of chemical testing in the alcoholic beverage industry
• Chapter 5: Rapid methods to analyze alcoholic beverages
• Chapter 6: Instrumental analyses for alcoholic beverages
• Case Study 1: The effect of alcohol reduction on an oaked Chardonnay wine: discrimination
• Case Study 2: A descriptive analysis of inexpensive Australian Chardonnay winesb
• Case Study 3: A descriptive analysis of American mead (honey wines)b
• Case Study 4: A descriptive analysis of Californian sparkling winesb
• Case Study 5: A time–intensity analysis of a Cabernet Sauvignon wine evaluated in multiple sips with and without added saliva and protein
• Case Study 6: A temporal dominance of sensation (TDS) analysis of three wines
• Case Study 7: A sorting study using cream liqueurs
• Case Study 8: Projective mapping (PM) of gins from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, and Germany
• Case Study 9: Internal (IPM) and external preference mapping (EPM) of Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California
• Case Study 10: The effects of closure type and storage temperature on the sensory and chemical properties of a Cabernet Sauvignon wine
• Index