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A methodological procedure involving an appropriate statistical validation of sensory data was de®ned in order to describe the typical sensory pro®le of a young red wine (Aglianico) destined to aging. A trained panel of eight assessors rated the intensity of nine attributes on 16 products. Sensory data were submitted to statistical validation using a procedure organised in three main steps, namely ®xed and mixed models of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and data standardisation. Results of the ®xed ANOVA model computed on raw data showed signi®cant differences between the products for all the attributes except cherry aroma and pungent mouthfeel. However, the results showed inconsistency between assessors. For many attributes, interaction effects were found. When individual differences between assessors were minimised or eliminated using scaled data, results of the ®xed and mixed models showed no signi®cant differences (p 0.05) amongst the products for any of the sensory attributes. Therefore the differences amongst the products before data handling and before applying the mixed model of ANOVA were due to the assessors' variability. The results after statistical validation showed that the wines are very similar and that all the attributes used to describe the sensory characteristics of the products can be considered, at a qualitative and a quantitative level, as typical descriptors of the Aglianico wine destined to aging.

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Preference mapping identified different groups of consumers on the basis of their disconfirmations (occurring when the product is either better or worse than expected) and assimilations (occurring when actual liking [L] moves toward the expectations). The negative disconfirmation of a group of consumers (Group 1) was based on the information about animal welfare (the products were worse than expected because the information about animal welfare induced high expectations), whereas in Group 2 the sensory properties of the products prevailed in orienting consumer disconfirmation (products were worse than expected because the sensory properties of low‐fat yogurt were disliked). The map of assimilation showed that consumers from Group 1 had higher assimilation for plain yogurt associated with high welfare standards as a consequence of the high discrepancy between blind and expected L for these products. A similar behavior was observed for Group 2 (higher discrepancy between blind and expected L corresponding to higher assimilation for low‐fat yogurt paired with high welfare standards). PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Consumers based their choices both on sensory properties (plain yogurts were preferred to low‐fat yogurts) and on information about animal welfare (products associated with high welfare standards were preferred to the others). Preference mapping was able to identify groups of consumers behaving differently, as compared with the general trend, on the basis of their disconfirmations and assimilations. Consumer willingness to pay reflected the hedonic behavior, thus validating the auction procedure for food liking evaluation purposes and providing a useful tool to obtain information about the real value (i.e., in monetary terms) consumers give to animal welfare.

This study investigated the correlation between total polyphenol content and the stability (ie induction time by Rancimat) of oil samples according to different regions, cultivars, extraction technologies and ripening times of raw material. Results indicate a correlation of oil stability with total polyphenols, (r=0·88), a chemical variable easy to determine. We have set up an oil quality index as a measure of desirability including legal parameters, especially the Council Olive Oil International score (COI Score), stability (phenol content) and process yield into account. The study of the effects of olive ripening and storage prior to processing and olive paste mixing times and temperatures on the quality index using an experimental factorial design (24) were investigated. The process variables selected in the experimental factorial design were studied and the main effects on desirability were identified. Based on this information, the extraction process was optimised for quality index in relation to fruit ripening and olive paste mixing time using a response contour to identify optimal experimental conditions. This innovative procedure shows that process conditions can be optimised as a function of Dtot, evaluated according to scientific determinations. © 1998 SCI.