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The intense and complex flavor characteristics of soy sauce makes it very difficult to obtain a comprehensive sensory profiling, and an effective descriptive analysis protocol for soy sauce products has not yet been established. The aims of this study were (1) to establish an objective, effective, and powerful descriptive analysis procedure that can be used to understand the sensory characteristics of soy sauce products and (2) to evaluate the sensory characteristics of 6 fermented type soy sauces with high market share in Korea. The test procedures, reference standards, and definitions for the descriptive terms of soy sauces were developed by 8 trained panelists. Panelists developed 11 aroma attributes, 10 flavor attributes, and 1 mouth feel attribute for evaluating the sensory characteristics of soy sauces. The data set were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and principal component analysis. There were significant differences among the soy sauce samples in the intensity of all the sensory attributes. The 1st and 2nd principal component (PC) explained 53.6% and 23.5% of the total variation, respectively. The basic taste attributes and fermented/chemical attributes were the dominant attributes defining PC1 and PC2 axes, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important initial steps in exporting a food product to another country from the R&D perspective is to describe and translate the sensory characteristics of a food product appropriately into the language of the target country. The objectives of this study were to describe and compare the sensory characteristics of Korean and Japanese style fermented soybean products, and to cross-culturally compare the lexicons of the identical product generated by the Korean and Japanese panelists. Four types of Korean and 4 types of Japanese style fermented soybean consisting of whole bean type and paste type were analyzed. Ten Korean and 9 Japanese panelists were recruited in Korea. Two separate descriptive analyses were conducted, with the panelists differing in their country of origin. Each group was trained, developed lexicon, and conducted descriptive analysis independently. Analysis of variance and various multivariate analyses were applied to delineate the sensory characteristics of the samples and to compare the cross-cultural differences in the usage of lexicon. The Korean and Japanese panelists generated 48 and 36 sensory attributes, respectively. Cross-cultural consensus was shown for evaluating the whole bean type fermented soybean and white miso, which were relatively distinctive samples. However, for the less distinctive samples, the panelists tend to rate higher in negative attributes for the fermented soybeans that originated from the other country. The Japanese panelists grouped the samples by their country of origin and soy sauce flavor was the main attribute for cross-cultural differentiation. However, the Korean panelists did not make a cross-cultural distinction among the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of steeping period (1, 11, and 21 d) and temperature (15, 25, and 35 °C) of waxy rice on the physical and sensory characteristics of Gangjung (a traditional Korean oil-puffed snack). Increasing the steeping period from 1 to 21 d and increasing the temperature from 15 to 35 °C markedly increased the oil absorption ratio of Gangjung. Textural analysis indicated that the number of peaks (representing the internal air cell characteristics) for Gangjung decreased in proportion with increasing steeping temperature and period, but that the hardness was affected significantly only by steeping period. Regarding the sensory characteristics of Gangjung, 5 appearance, 7 flavor, and 9 texture attributes were developed and evaluated by trained descriptive panelists. When the steeping temperature and the steeping period were increased, the degree of expansion, size, and degree of external roughness increased, while the strength of external color decreased. Regarding the flavor attributes, the intensity of sweetness and toasted carbohydrate food flavor tended to decrease with increasing steeping temperature and period, while sourness and butyric acid flavor, which are related to the fermentation of waxy rice, increased. Finally, the increased steeping temperature and period decreased the intensity of hardness, crispness, and toughness of Gangjung but increased the degree of fracture, degree of melting, and oiliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]