Good is sweet and bad is bitter: Conflation of affective value of aromas with taste qualities in untrained participants

Abstract

In sensory evaluation, trained panelists are recommended to accurately assess complex flavors. However, many researchers assume that “simpler” qualities such as basic tastes can be reliably assessed by untrained individuals. In this work, we tested whether untrained participants would conflate the basic tastes of “bitter” and “sweet” with the hedonic aspects of an aroma by using Jelly Belly BeanBoozled® candies. These products are sweet candies which have either pleasant (e.g., coconut) or unpleasant (e.g., sour milk) aromas. In the first test, all participants rated candies with their nose open. In the second test, all participants rated candies with nose closed immediately followed by nose open. Both experiments demonstrated that sweetness was rated higher for good beans than bad beans and bitterness was rated higher for bad beans than good beans when rated with nose open. Closing the nose eliminated this difference, as all beans were actually sweet and not bitter. Practical applications Researchers should use caution when interpreting sensory ratings from untrained participants, even for “simple” sensations such as basic tastes. While it is often necessary to use untrained participants, these individuals may conflate the hedonic aspects of the product with other sensory qualities.

Development of a hard cider flavor wheel using free word sorting and multivariate statistical techniques

“…For example, the Level 2 term “mouthfeel” was added to classify outer tier (Level 3) terms including “lingering”, “astringent”, “bitter”, “full‐bodied”, and “bubbly” based on the semantic coherence of these terms. Though bitter is a well‐established basic taste sensation, it may be used in similar ways as descriptors such as “lingering”, “astringent” and “full‐bodied,” which both consumers and industry professionals semantically associate with the word “bitter.” Such observations suggest a lack of understanding of basic sensory modalities among both untrained and knowledgeable consumers, as also reported by Davis and Running (2023).…”

“…and "full-bodied," which both consumers and industry professionals semantically associate with the word "bitter." Such observations suggest a lack of understanding of basic sensory modalities among both untrained and knowledgeable consumers, as also reported by Davis and Running (2023).…”

A taste of cell-cultured meat: a scoping review

“…The statistical power of descriptive methods even with such a small number of panelists is typically justified by the reduction of variance through this calibration (training). Furthermore, recent research has shown that even “simple” terms like sweetness are not suitable for evaluation by untrained panelists ( 94 ). Thus, the conclusions about specific sensory attributes based on very small, untrained panels as in the study by Pasitka et al ( 53 ) are unlikely to be reliable.…”