FST 127 - Sensory Evaluation of Foods

(4 units) WINTER QUARTER
Instructor

COURSE GOALS: It is necessary for the food industry to measure the flavor, texture and other sensory characteristics of food and consumer products for quality assurance, product development and optimization, studies of alternative processing, packaging and storage, as well s relating sensory to physical properties One of the best instruments for such analytical measurements is the human sensory system. It is also important to measure consumer perception and acceptance of such products. These activities fall under the general heading of Food Sensory Science. The goal of this course is to introduce the techniques and theory of food sensory measurement to students who do not intend to specialize in this area, so that they are able to understand and interact constructively with those who have specialized

ENTRY LEVEL: Prerequisite: FST 117

COURSE FORMAT: Two one-hour lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week. Grades based on lab reports (35%), two midterms (each 15%), one paper (15%) and a final exam (20%).

TOPICAL OUTLINE:

  1. Sensory attributes of foods and beverages and their perceptions
  2. appearance
  3. flavor
  4. taste
  5. aroma
  6. texture/mouthfeel
  7. trigeminal sensations
  8. Sensory evaluation methodology
  9. threshold measurements
  10. difference tests
  11. scaling procedures
  12. descriptive analytical methods
  13. consumer tests
  14. Instrumental measurements
  15. color
  16. texture
  17. flavor
  18. Correlation of sensory and instrumental measures
  19. Applications of sensory tests for
  20. quality assurance
  21. product development
  22. product optimization
  23. marketing