Dados do Trabalho

Título

PIVOT PROFILE DESCRIPTIVE METHOD IN THE SENSORY EVALUATION OF TRADITIONAL AND DIET WAFER BISCUITS WITH AND WITHOUT TRAINING

Introdução

Classic sensory tests typically necessitate a team of carefully selected and trained evaluators. Nevertheless, the time and costs associated with conducting these activities can present significant challenges. Thus, rapid alternative methods, such as the Pivot Profile (PP), have emerged to reduce or eliminate the need for prior training to conduct the analyses. The objective of this study was to characterize chocolate wafer biscuits, both traditional (A, B, C, and D) and diet (E/Pivot) from different commercial brands, using the PP descriptive method with and without training.

Material e Métodos

The analyses were conducted in two stages. Initially, the tests were carried out without training. After a 7-day interval, the same evaluators underwent training focusing on appearance, odor, flavor, and texture, considering their extremes. The samples were served in a monadic manner, one pair at a time, with one sample coded and the other as the pivot. After data collection, correspondence analysis was performed using the SensoMaker statistical program. This analysis enabled the creation of two-dimensional maps and dendrograms to compare the sensory profiles obtained.

Resultados e Discussão

The sensory panel consisted of 60 evaluators, comprising 78% females and 22% males, with ages ranging from 18 to 56 years. Analysis of the total number of descriptors listed after training (1462) revealed a significant increase compared to responses without training (919). However, the same three groups were formed in both sensory panels. The samples A and C were associated with descriptors such as “Chocolate flavor”, “Filling color”, “Bitterness”, and “Crunchiness”, (E/Pivot) exhibited higher intensity in the descriptor “Dough color”, while the samples B and D were related to the attribute “Sweet taste”.

Conclusão

These characteristics are associated with the type of processing and/or ingredients utilized in the preparation of the biscuits, such as the inclusion of carob flour in the diet sample. Furthermore, the use of sugars or sweeteners, along with browning reactions, also contributed to the observed grouping. Despite the increased citation intensities observed in the trained panel, significant similarities persisted between the results obtained before and after training. The training stage appears to be optional in the descriptive sensory evaluation of wafer biscuits using the PP method.