Establishment of a trained sensory panel at the Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo.

Abstract

Sensory evaluation of food is an integral aspect of Food Science and Technology as it is vital in new product development and existing product improvement. It is a scientific process and needs trained panelists. This study was conducted to establish a trained sensory panel at the Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo as there is no trained sensory panel in the faculty. ISO standard procedure 8586:2012 was used in the study. Initially, a Google-based questionnaire was developed and distributed among the faculty members to select candidates for the research study. Out of 112 individuals, 89 candidates who responded to the questionnaire consisting of academic staff, non-academic staff, administrative staff, and undergraduates were selected for the sensory study depending on their responses to the questionnaire. The selected candidates were then subjected to basic taste, odor, color, taste intensity, texture identification, and matching tests to evaluate their sensory abilities. The results showed that 87% of the candidates possessed an ability to memorize taste and smell, while 79% were selected based on their ability to identify taste intensity, and 77% were selected for odor identification. In the texture descriptive test, 85% of the candidates were selected, while in the color intensity identification test, 93% were successful. Totally 21% of candidates were selected as trained panelists (23 candidates out of 112 candidates) while 79% were rejected. Based on the performance test, all panelists chose the best biscuit sample, indicating their high level of competence. The performance of the selected 23 trained panelists was found to comply with the requirements of ISO 8586:2012. Selected trained sensory panel consisting of 23 panelists was established at the Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo. The panelists were found to be homogeneous and showed no significant differences in their sensory evaluation abilities. This product-oriented sensory panel can be used for scientific assessment of food products and sensory evaluation studies conducted by the Department of Food Science and Technology.