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Understanding human oral/taste sensitivity to long-chain non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) with varying physicochemical properties is essential to reducing the intake of fats and altering the intake composition. This study investigated the differences in human taste sensitivity to two NEFA: oleic acid and linoleic acid. Twenty-four female subjects were divided into two equal sensitivity groups, and they performed discrimination tests for both fatty acids against bottled water using either the triangle or the DR A-Not A test. To achieve an accurate measurement of NEFA sensitivity, the stimulus was carefully prepared, avoiding additives that could interfere with the binding of fatty acids to receptors. Stimuli concentrations were selected to be within the lowest range (9.9 to 177.3 μM) evaluated in previous research. Through a systematic stimulus control process, this study confirmed that greater sensitivity was exhibited to linoleic acid than oleic acid, resulting in better discrimination than previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined human flavor perception and discrimination of powdered milk samples with various fat contents using two different sensory discrimination methods, DR A-Not A and 3-AFC. DR A-Not A was expected to be more effective. Using skim milk and whole milk powder, five different samples with various fat contents were prepared. An independent samples design was used to compare DR A-Not A and 3-AFC. Each subject performed 24 repeated tests consisting of comparisons of four different test samples from the reference sample. Signal detection d′ results showed that sample discrimination was possible using DR A-Not A, but not 3-AFC. Moreover, the just noticeable difference (JND) was calculated using the results of DR A-Not A. The calculated JND was 0.47% (w/v), and the Weber fraction was 0.82. These results confirm that the DR A-Not A method is more effective for studying the human sensitivity to the fat content in food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fast moving consumer goods industries, effective and robust sensory discrimination and preference methods need to achieve various business objectives, such as product reformulation. A new preference-difference test was designed in this study as more effective and reliable method. In this method, 3-point paired-preference test was performed before conducting same-different test. The performance of new method was compared with performances of difference-preference test and conventional pairedpreference test. Each of 256 female consumers participated in all three test methods in a counterbalanced order for discriminating two types of strawberry flavored carbonated drinks. McNemar test and Thurstonian modeling/signal detection theory (SDT) were used to compare the effectiveness of same-different tests. SDT analysis and a significance test using the concept of 'identicality norm' were applied to compare robustness of preference tests. The results of these analyses indicated that preference-difference test could not only provide better discrimination but also showed more robust preference results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate psychological positioning of products is important for marketing of foods and beverages. For better product positioning, understanding of how products' extrinsic and intrinsic properties are perceived by consumers is required. In this study, it was explored a refined one-to-one interview technique, check-all-that-apply (CATA) linked with a repertory grid method (RGM) (CATA/RGM) designed to measure consumer-relevant Kansei - psychological feelings and impressions for products - as applied to 12 commercial bottled tea products. For statistical analyses, 2 multivariate statistical methods for Kansei profiling were compared: CATA/RGM based-structured free choice profiling (FCP) and cued elicitation. Results showed that the CATA/RGM efficiently differentiated between products, and the product differentiation obtained from the 2 Kansei profiling techniques corresponded. These results indicated that the consumers in this study have similar Kansei towards bottled teas, and the cued elicitation method, which employed correspondence analysis (CA), was useful for studying the interactions between consumer-relevant Kansei and product properties for a specific target group of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]