The effect of carrier on consumer liking of soy sauce

Abstract

Soy sauce may be consumed as an ingredient, a marinade, or as a compliment to sushi. The objective of this study was to determine the role of carrier in the context of consumer liking and differentiation of soy sauces. A trained descriptive analysis panel (n = 8) documented aromatics, basic tastes, and mouthfeel factors of 27 different soy sauces. Ten representative soy sauces were selected for consumer evaluation. Soy sauces were presented on meatballs, cucumber sushi rolls, and neat in three separate sessions. Within each session, consumers (n = 121) reported overall liking for each soy sauce. Overall liking scores were evaluated by two-way analysis of variance (soy sauce  context) and landscape segmentation analysis (LSA) was applied to visualize consumer ideal points for each context. Soy sauce liking scores were highest for meatballs and lowest for neat evaluation (p < .05). Context and soy sauce impacted liking (p < .05), but there was no interaction (p > .05), and liking scores were generally consistent, regardless of context. Drivers of liking determined via LSA differed slightly among the various contexts tested, and there was evidence that consumer ideals within a product space shifted in different contexts. Practical ApplicationsSelection of a carrier for a consumer taste test can be time-consuming and expensive.This study demonstrates that consumers can evaluate soy sauces neat and provide the same directional information as if the consumers evaluated the soy sauces with a carrier. | INTRODUCTIONContext is defined as the condition in which perception of a product is impacted by the presence of other factors within the evaluation session (Lawless & Heymann, 2010). These factors can include other products used in the test, questions asked on the ballot, or the conditions in which the products are served. Previous work has evaluated how perception is affected by age of the person, sample concentration or intensity, order bias, product evaluation with or without carriers, environmental context, halo/horns effects, and testing location (CLT vs. HUT) (

Consumer Preference of Traditional Korean Soy Sauce (Ganjang) and Its Relationship with Sensory Attributes and Physicochemical Properties

“…Subsequently, several AAs, such as threonine, serine, proline, glutamate, aspartate, and lysine, were added (>0.54). In previous studies, these factors were described as the drivers of liking soy sauce and the foods prepared with it [ 14 , 15 , 66 ], Moreover, AAs were mentioned in soybean paste ( doenjang ), which has the same product origin as soy sauce [ 25 , 67 ].…”

“…Most of the attributes were typical negative aspects of foods, but the descriptions related to fermentation were also found to be less associated with acceptance. Jeon [ 15 ], Lee, Chung, and Kim [ 17 ], elucidated a more intense fermented fish flavor found only in traditional ganjang compared with a mass product (e.g., brewed or acid-hydrolyzed soy sauce). In this study, a strong fermented flavor might have been perceived negatively by some consumers, such as those who are used to mass-produced goods.…”

“…Recent research on ganjang has mostly concentrated on profiling metabolites and microbial communities [ 12 , 13 ]. Regarding consumer studies, there are effects of consumer liking on carriers and testing conditions [ 14 , 15 ], sensory profiling of different types [ 16 ], and maturation periods [ 17 ], but little information is available on the taste of CQT ganjang , its regional characteristics, and underlying consumer responses.…”