The McCormick Spice Wheel: A Systematic and Visual Approach to Sensory Lexicon Development

Abstract

Sensory wheels provide standardized vocabularies for product categories and thus enable better communication among sensory scientists, product developers and their business partners. Recently, increased interest in spices prompted the development of an updated dried spice and herb aroma wheel, the original of which was created at McCormick and Company, Inc. (McCormick) during the mid-1990s. The new version of the McCormick Spice Wheel (MSW) was generated from lexicons developed at McCormick, a sample of which were validated to still be appropriate through cluster analysis, principal component analysis and correlations. The final spice * wheel was validated by a team of sensory scientists (n = 5) including panel leaders (n = 3) and a group of trained descriptive panelists (n = 9). The final MSW has 17 categories and 56 attributes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSLexicons allow sensory scientists to evaluate a product or product category with an organized, established vocabulary. Wheels are visual representations of these lexicons and offer a standardized vocabulary for sensory scientists and their business associates, particularly those in product development. Wheels can be useful in teaching descriptive panelists which attributes are related to each other. This can be useful in panel discussions in which there is dissension about the definition of a particular attribute. If panelists understand that two or more attributes are related in a wider perspective, then consensus flows more naturally. Additionally, wheels are helpful in business presentations in which sensory scientists must explain a conceptual sensory space or during benchtop evaluations in which sensory scientists must assist product developers in understanding the sensory properties of a food product.

Developing Lexicons: A Review

“…Sensory analysts may use wheels to explain descriptive analysis to customers during business presentations or potential descriptive panelists during training (Lawless et al . ).…”

Novel Creation of a Rum Flavor Lexicon Through the Use of Web‐Based Material

“…While definitions are helpful for a better grasp of the accurate perception of an attribute, many flavor wheels do not contain definitions for their terms. This is true for many whisky wheels (Jackson ; MacLean ) as well as the McCormick Spice Wheel (Lawless and others ). While definitions are helpful, they are not essential for the wheel to be useful.…”

“…Lexicons have been developed for a variety of different food products including spices (Lawless and others ), cheese (Drake and others ), bread (Kleinert and others ), olive oil (Mojet and de Jong ), almonds (Civille and others ), tea (Koch and others ), and orange juice (Perez‐Cacho and others ). Additionally, a number of lexicons have been developed for alcoholic beverages including beer (Clapperton and others ; Meilgaard and others ; Parker ), brandy (Jolly and Hattingh ), cognac (Lurton and others ), distilled beverages (Mc Donnell and others ), whisky (Piggott and Jardine ; Swan and others ; Lee and others ), and wine (Noble and others , ).…”

Processes to Preserve Spice and Herb Quality and Sensory Integrity During Pathogen Inactivation

“…The breakdown of plant or seed tissue, change in pressure, oxygen, moisture in an environment, or elevated temperature or light can increase the potential for oxidation (Schweiggert and others ). The lexicons for various spices have been published, illustrating the sensory contributions of low and high quality spices and herbs for foods (Lawless and others ). Black pepper, for example, is very complex, with a primary basic taste (bitter) contribution, a feeling factor (heat), woody character (cedar/woody, pine), earthy/dirty/musty notes (cardboard, musty), soapy and terpene characteristics noted in the spice (Lawless and others ).…”

“…The lexicons for various spices have been published, illustrating the sensory contributions of low and high quality spices and herbs for foods (Lawless and others ). Black pepper, for example, is very complex, with a primary basic taste (bitter) contribution, a feeling factor (heat), woody character (cedar/woody, pine), earthy/dirty/musty notes (cardboard, musty), soapy and terpene characteristics noted in the spice (Lawless and others ). Onion powder has more sulfur character (fruity sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, rubbery sulfur, old sulfur/vegetative) and with both sweet and bitter basic tastes, metallic and pungent feeling factors, cooked (toasted) and earthy/dirty/musty (musty/cardboard) notes (Lawless and others ).…”