SENSORY ANALYSIS is a scientific discipline used to evoke, measure, analyse and interpret reactions to those characteristics of food as they are perceived by the senses -

SIGHT  SMELL  TASTE  TOUCH  HEARING

When we first eat or drink, our spontaneous reaction is to think how much we like or dislike the product. This is a hedonic response. Sensory analysis goes beyond 'liking and disliking' and considers how the properties of the food or drink stimulate each of our senses.

We consider these in terms of:

• appearance (sense of sight),

• texture and mouth feel (senses of touch and hearing),

• flavour of food in the mouth (senses of taste and smell)

• odour of food outside the mouth (sense of smell).

USES OF SENSORY ANALYSIS IN INDUSTRY

• for product development

• for studying effects of ingredients, formulation, and process on final product

• for measuring, predicting shelf life

• for quality control and quality assurance

• for competitor benchmarking