The Importance of Sensory Lexicons for Research and Development of Food Products

Abstract

A lexicon is a set of standardized vocabularies developed by highly trained panelists for describing a wide array of sensory attributes present in a product. A number of lexicons have been developed to document and describe sensory perception of a variety of food categories.The current review provides examples of recently developed sensory lexicons for fruits and vegetables; grains and nuts; beverages; bakery, dairy, soy and meat products; and foods for animals. Applications of sensory lexicons as an effective communication tool and a guidance tool for new product development processes, quality control, product improvement, measuring changes during product shelf life, and breeding new plant cultivars are also discussed and demonstrated through research in the field.

Sensory and Consumer Studies in Plant Breeding: A Guidance for Edamame Development in the U.S.

“…However, instrumental methods are still not able to completely mimic human sensory responses and perceive food products as humans do (Lawless and Heymann, 2010). Thus, sensory and consumer studies can be used to investigate quality attributes and preferences for different plant cultivars and can be valuable tools to support plant breeders in parent selection as well as selection of new breeding lines and cultivars (Hampson et al, 2000;Suwonsichon, 2019). Although sensory evaluation has already been employed in plant breeding research worldwide, it is still common that breeding programs often are limited to the tasting results, experiences, and perspectives from only a few experts (frequently the plant breeders) to assist varietal and traits selection (Hampson et al, 2000;Bowen et al, 2019).…”

“…The development of a lexicon, a standardized list of descriptors that characterize a food product, is another important application of sensory evaluation methods to support the development of new products, such as new plant cultivars (Suwonsichon, 2019). Lexicons, also called word lists, are important tools applied in descriptive analysis and enable clear and effective communication among different audiences (e.g., scientists, researchers, consumers, breeders, product developers, producers, industry etc.)…”

Development of a preliminary sensory lexicon for mate tea

“…Thus, sensory studies are needed to boosting the initial phases of mate tea classification. However, high‐quality sensory studies require a lexicon in order to provide consistency in evaluation (Suwonsichon, ).…”

“…One of the most important steps to initiate a better understanding of sensory attributes present in a product, is the development of a lexicon (Suwonsichon, ). Lexicons are standardized vocabularies that objectively describe the sensory properties of consumer products and can be used by several different panels to consistently describe products (Lawless & Civille, ).…”

“…Lexicons are standardized vocabularies that objectively describe the sensory properties of consumer products and can be used by several different panels to consistently describe products (Lawless & Civille, ). They are also a relevant tool for communication among sensory panels, sensory scientists, product developers, marketing professionals, and suppliers who may have different understandings of the same sensory attribute due to differences in perception, background knowledge, and culture (Suwonsichon, ). Lexicons are useful for marketing product development, research on varietals, optimization of products, quality control, and breeding programs (Hayakawa et al, ; Koppel & Chambers, ; Oupadissakoon et al, ).…”