Development of A Lexicon for Commercial Plain Sufu (Fermented Soybean Curd)

Abstract

Sufu (fermented soybean curd) is a cheese‐like product that is widely consumed in Asian countries. One of the subtypes is plain sufu, a traditional fermented food whose sensory attributes remain poorly characterized. In this study, we developed a lexicon for describing its sensory characteristics. Trained panelists evaluated the sensory profiles of 12 commercially available products manufactured in 3 locations. Sensory data were analyzed using one‐way analysis of variance and principal component analysis, and 8 aroma, 7 texture, 2 taste, and 5 flavor attributes were identified and defined. After further lexicon refinement, the aroma attributes salty, moldy, alcohol‐like, and meaty were identified to clearly differentiate fully aged samples from each other. The texture and flavor attributes that differentiate sufu were cohesiveness and sesame oil‐like, respectively. Practical Applications The sufu lexicon helps product developers, researchers, and technologists understand the characteristics of plain sufu and those positive attributes when developing new, similar products and investigating quality‐control and shelf‐life topics. Because all mature plain sufus examined here presented similar sensory profiles derived from their major attributes, future studies could focus on distinct fermentation periods used to optimize products by employing the available definitions and references. Moreover, the developed lexicon can serve as a tool for correlating descriptive data to consumer preferences and to facilitating an understanding of the attributes that drive consumers’ acceptance.

Characterization of Volatile Compounds by SPME‐GC‐MS During the Ripening of Kedong Sufu, a Typical Chinese Traditional Bacteria‐Fermented Soybean Product

“…The stage of postfermentation positioned fully in the strongly positive PC1 region due to relatively high concentrations of esters, phenols, and alcohols. The results also showed that the categories of flavor elements increased and formed flavoring composition properties throughout the whole ripening period (Chen & Chung, ). Both esters and alcohols were the major classes of compounds, showed the greatest contribution to the whole fermented bean curd flavor profile at the late stage of ripening, and masked the undesirable flavors in the background (Chung, ).…”

Comparison of proximate composition and sensory attributes of Clariid catfish species of Clarias gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis, and their hybrids

“…The recent characteristic taste, umami, recorded highest significant value in the parent species CC and HH than the hybrids (P < 0.05) and this was similar to sweet in the pattern of preferences; probably indicating that sweet contributes to umami. Indeed, the presence of umami taste in products is reportedly triggered by some compounds such as glutamate, a salt of glutamic acid, specific ribonucleotides, and glutamate salts, including monosodium glutamate, potassium glutamate, and calcium glutamate among others (Yamamoto 2003;Meilgarrd et al 2007;Masic and Yeomans 2014;Hajeb and Jinap 2015;Leong et al 2015;Chen and Chung 2016). The basic taste cues of glutamate is its sweetness, therefore, the positive evaluation of umami taste in this study probably indicates the presence of one or more of these compounds that triggered its taste receptors.…”

Lexicon for multiparameter texture assessment of snack and snack‐like foods in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi

“…For example, this texture lexicon covered all the 19 texture terms described for 50 pasta samples (Irie et al, 2018). Similarly, terms developed in other studies for various products were also included in this lexicon, for example: 4 texture terms to describe 18 different cashew samples (Griffin et al, 2017); 17 out of 20 attributes for 24 French bread samples (Hayakawa, Ukai, Nishida, Kazami, & Kohyama, 2010); 12 out of 14 texture descriptors for 8 commercial red sufu products (He, Chen, & Chung, 2018); all 7 texture attributes for 12 commercial plain sufu products (Chen & Chung, 2016); and 6 of 7 attributes for fresh peaches (Belisle et al, 2017). All 19 texture terms provided for almonds by Civille et al (2010) are included in this texture lexicon.…”