Korean Consumer Evaluation of Various Foods Using Four Different Texture Lexicons

Abstract

Texture is an important food quality contributing consumers' acceptance of foods. Texture terminologies have been developed in various languages. While comparative studies using different languages are becoming a trend, there is not a fully developed Korean texture lexicon existing. There was a study in 1980s which developed Korean texture terms using cooked rice, noodles and Kimchi. Since then, there was no further study using this texture terms list nor developing new texture terms in Korea. The aims of this study were to evaluate texture lexicons originated from four different languages (Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean), and to determine the necessity of developing a new Korean texture lexicon using various texture bearing foods. One hundred consumers performed choose‐all‐that‐apply evaluation for each texture lexicon (a total of 400 consumers) using 12 food samples with a wide range of texture properties. The most frequently used texture terms were from English lexicon while texture terms originated from Japanese were chosen the least. Practical Applications Texture being a sensory attribute perceived only by human, it would be beneficial to develop and use a unified terminology to effectively measure texture properties and to compare it with others. Current research used four texture lexicons and evaluated 12 food samples which enabled comparison among 4 lexicons. Because Korean texture terms were developed using a limited food samples, types of texture terms were limited and this study revealed the need to fully develop Korean texture terms. Our work provides basis for further refinement of Korean texture lexicon to be developed.

Comparison of a descriptive analysis and instrumental measurements (electronic nose and electronic tongue) for the sensory profiling of Korean fermented soybean paste (doenjang)

“…Generating a method of sensory profiling and measuring consumer acceptability are the starting points needed to develop products to satisfy the quality standards that many consumers demand (Varela & Ares, ). Several studies have reported the descriptive profiles and/or consumer acceptability of Korean foods (Chambers, Lee, Chun, & Miller, ; Chang, Kwak, Yoo, & Lee, ; Jang, Kim, Lim, & Hong, ; Kim & Lee, ; Kwak, Ahn, Kim, & Lee, ). For doenjang , Kim, Hong, Song, Shin, and Kim () described the sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of doenjang and reported that consumer acceptability was positively affected by sweetness and umami and negatively influenced by saltiness, meju , soy sauce, and fermented fish sauce flavors.…”

Cross‐cultural development of hibiscus tea sensory lexicons for trained and untrained panelists

“…Moreover, the methodology employed to this end successfully uncovered and accommodated differences rooted on subjects' sensory and professional expertise, culture and product familiarity. This brings important contributions to the sensory optimization of hibiscus tea production and the marketing of hibiscus products in international markets, as the vital role played by cross‐culturally developed and validated, multilingual and easy‐to‐use lexicons encompassing the vocabulary of trained panelists, untrained professionals and consumers in such activities is increasingly acknowledged (Andani et al, ; Hayakawa et al, ; Kim & Lee, ).…”

“…On the other hand, food producing and trading companies do not always have the possibility to train or get access to trained panelists. The sensory vocabulary used by untrained professionals, or even by consumers, may also provide relevant product descriptions for marketing research, sales and customer support (Hayakawa et al, ; Kim & Lee, ). Moreover, its reliability can be assessed by comparison against sensory lexicons developed by trained panelists (Ares et al, ; Blancher, Clavier, Egoroff, Duineveld, & Parcon, ; Worch, Lê, & Punter, ).…”

Sensory texture analysis of thickened liquids during ingestion

“…The panel has been used to develop sensory lexicons and to evaluate a number of commercial and experimental products including research on thickened beverages (Matta et al, ), as well as other liquids such as soy sauce (Cherdchu & Chambers, ), coffee (Chambers et al, ), green tea (Lee, Chambers, & Chambers, ), and other products such as cheese (Talavera & Chambers, ). Kim and Lee () found that a texture lexicon developed by a similarly trained descriptive sensory panel in the United States was shown to be valid when translated into another language (Korean).…”