1. Color – quality factor Relates to quality and/or perceived quality  (ex: white and orange carrots = same taste/quality) We expect meat to be red Bananas to be yellow – not brown! Naturally occurring pigments, freshness, oxidation (air), etc. affect food color

2. Texture – quality factor Gum to be chewy Crackers to be crisp Refers to qualities felt with fingers, tongue & teeth Changes in texture usually due to moisture status

3. Size & shape – quality factor Expect foods to have certain sizes & shapes Easily measured Fruits & vegetables graded by size & shapes

4. Taste– quality factor Expect foods to have certain taste 5 different tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami aka savory) Ex: milk to be lightly sweet not sour

Tiny finger-like structures on papillae called microvilli with hundreds of receptors on them (areas on the cell wall that can tell if specific chemicals are near them) Send signals to the brain to acknowledge the specific taste and store it to memory The five different tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami aka savory) affect the taste receptors

 View 1 - taste buds help perceive flavor – certain areas of tongue are more sensitive to certain flavors  View 2 – areas disproven Most areas of the tongue can taste each of the five tastes

5. Smell– quality factor Expect foods to have certain smell or no smell Rancid foods occur when fat is oxidized and can lead to a sour or un-fresh smell Ex: molding bread Consumers anticipate a smell prior to a taste

 Flavor = The combination of pure taste and smell (olfaction) Humans are usually able to distinguish over 4,000 scents, but some people are able to smell 10,000 different odor molecules Used primarily for safety and protection from outside dangers (leaking gas, rotten food, etc.

 Part of food science  Dedicated to finding ways to help humans accurately describe the flavors & other sensory properties of food (scent)  Flavor – quality factor  People differ in preferences

 Best method – use taste panels – professionals or customers  Other evaluation methods used – chemical & mechanical

 Help ensure food quality  Types Research – setup by company Trade – setup by members of an industry Government – some mandatory, some optional  All help to provide common language for all involved  Quality standards by USDA 

 5sEDse3E 5sEDse3E

 Manufacturing plants usually have some type of internal, formal, quality control Inspection duties Lab tests Oversee sanitation Guide research & development

 Humans avoid flavors after paired with gastric illness  All senses are change detectors so after continuous exposure receptors stop responding  Humans biased by opinion/others easily  Past assumptions, comments  Lighting, sound, temperature  Prefer first samples over last – only handle 4-5 samples at a time

 This is similar to how consumers would do a taste test for a company. h3M h3M Aw Aw  Perform your blind taste test with DETAILED sensory evaluations