Cost/efficiency evaluation of descriptive analysis panels — I. Panel size

Developing a lexicon for the flavor description of French cheeses

“…In addition to that pre-training, the panelists received three two-hour sessions of orientation for this project. Although the number of panelists was small, previous studies (Cook & Homer, 1996;King, Arents, & Moreau, 1995) have shown that the number of panelists did not have an effect on the homogeneity of the variance or the sample relationships, and the number of panelists used had only a slight effect on the statistical significance of the results obtained, as long as the panel was well trained. Additionally, because lexicon development necessitates extended discussions and data were collected using the consensus method, a smaller panel was considered more manageable and appropriate for the present study.…”

Comparison of preference mapping with projective mapping for characterizing consumer perception of brewed black coffees

“…For example, trained panel sensory profiling, also known as descriptive sensory analysis (DA), is of great importance to the food industry as it allows researchers to describe and quantify perceived sensory attributes, analogous to an instrument (Drake, Jones, Russell, Harding, & Gerard, ; Risvik, Mcewan, Colwill, Rogers, & Lyon, ). Unfortunately, descriptive analysis methods can be exceedingly time and cost intensive with well‐trained panels being the costliest and the most desirable for consistent reliable data (King, Arents, & Moreau, ). Despite the cost, DA is essential to projects that include external preference mapping techniques, as the trained panelist data are used to define the product/attribute space before regressing consumer liking data onto the space.…”

Review: Berry Sensory Assessment: concepts and practices for assessing winegrapes’ sensory attributes

“…In an early study, however, comparing DA evaluations with three different panel sizes, King et al. () concluded that smaller panels ( n = 5) led to a greater loss of information when trying to explain treatment effects. Based on the information earlier, we recommend between 8 and 12 assessors to perform BSA.…”