Defination,Application of Sensory Quality Parameters and Sensory Lab Requirements

We, as consumers, eat only that food which is palatable and enjoyable. Palatability means the quality of food should be appealing and appetizing and we crave for more. The primary consideration for selecting and eating a food commodity is thus the palatability or eating quality, and other quality parameters, such as nutrition and wholesomeness are secondary. For the consumers the eating quality attributes– aroma, taste, aftertaste, tactual properties and appearance are the deciding factors in food acceptance. Thus quality is that “which the consumer likes best” and the grades of quality are understood more by the degree of desirable attributes and absence of undesirable characteristics. All these attributes are detected by Sensory Evaluation our sensory organs, hence this method of deciding quality of a food is called as sensory evaluation.

In our country, the dairy industry so far considers the chemical and microbiological quality as the sole criteria of deciding food quality. With the availability of more milk, increased competition and consumers’ awareness about quality, the significance of sensory evaluation is being realized and it is emerging as an important

analytical tool in fast growing dairy industry.