Dados do Trabalho

Título

THE OPTIMIZED DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE (ODP): TRAINED VERSUS SEMI-TRAINED PANELS

Introdução

The demand of a long execution time for classic descriptive methods, or the acquisition of only qualitative information for the rapid tests, or even providing little reliable and reproducible results, make descriptive methodologies existing in literature present limitations for practical application in the context of industry. In order to meet the demand for quantitative, accurate and reliable methods, it was proposed in this study to associate the Optimized Descriptive Profile (ODP) methodology with training of assessors, in order to provide a new application for the ODP method.

Material e Métodos

Therefore, we evaluated the sensory profile (8 attributes) of the same food matrix (four chocolate formulations) by means of the ODP methodology in its original form (semi-trained panel) and with the variant Trained Optimized Descriptive Profile (TODP), considering short (TODPLOW) and long training periods (TODPHIGH). The training phase consisted of several exercises with different numbers of sessions. This made it possible to evaluate the effect of training and training time on the overall performance of the evaluators, through discriminative capacity and precision (repeatability and reproducibility).

Resultados e Discussão

In analyzing the results, it was found that the TODP variant provided better discriminatory capacity, compared to the original method (ODP). The formulations were significantly discriminated (p < 0.05) into at least 3 and 2 groups in the TODP and ODP techniques, respectively. Furthermore, the TODPHIGH variant evaluators showed repeatability (p > 0.20) in all sensory stimuli. Regarding reproducibility (inter-evaluator precision), it was found that in the original method (ODO) and TODPLOW, at least one evaluator was not in consensus with the panel (p < 0.20), when evaluating 7 sensory attributes. In the TODPHIGH variant, the panel of evaluators showed reproducibility (p > 0.20) when evaluating 3 attributes in chocolate. Therefore, the ODP variant (TODP) can have great applicability in the quality control sector, for example, in stability analyzes and sensory mapping of products, allowing to investigate the variability of ingredients or processing in the sensorial quality of foods. In this way, the ODP method can have its applications expanded, when it is in its original version (fast method) or associated with training (high precision and discriminative capacity).

Conclusão

Therefore, the ODP variant (TODP) can have great applicability in the quality control sector, for example, in stability analyzes and sensory mapping of products, allowing to investigate the variability of ingredients or processing in the sensorial quality of foods. In this way, the ODP method can have its applications expanded, when it is in its original version (fast method) or associated with training (high precision and discriminative capacity).