73G-18 |
Cheddar cheese aroma panel training |
N. YURTTAS, Z. M. Vickers, and G. A. Reineccius. Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition, Univ. of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55108-6099 We need judges that can correctly distinguish Cheddar from non-Cheddar cheeses. Thus we trained judges to discriminate the cheeses and measured their performance during training. We wanted to know if the training was improving their performance and also when a judge became competent. The panel of competent judges would then be used in further sensory studies to compare the aroma of different odor mixtures to that of Cheddar cheese. The objective was to train people to recognize Cheddar cheese aroma and to distinguish it from the aroma of other cheeses. Eleven panelists with prior training in descriptive analysis of Cheddar cheese participated. At each session they were served twelve different cheese samples and asked to categorize them as Cheddar or non-Cheddar. Immediately after their responses, they were given the correct answers. At later sessions panelists closed their eyes to mask any visual clues. Performance was measured by the proportion of correct responses in each session. Panelists who had 90% or more correct responses in two subsequent sessions were considered competent. Seven out of eleven judges reached the 90% or more correct response level in five training sessions. The best judge reached 100% correct level in only three sessions. When the judges evaluated the cheeses with eyes closed their correct responses first dropped but then recovered. Even though the panelists had prior training in descriptive analysis of Cheddar aroma attributes they could not reliably recognize a Cheddar aroma at the start of this training. Training did not improve the performance of about 1/3 of the judges. Measuring individuals' success at completing the task was very useful for monitoring success of the training and for selecting judges for participation in subsequent tests.
Session 73G, Sensory Evaluation
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