The Workshop for the sensory evaluation of novel processed foods was organised with great success on 16 May 2023 at CIHEAM MAICh.
Nine newly developed novel processed foods containing at least one of the underutilized selected crops, i.e. Lens culinaris, Lathyrus spp., Fagopyron spp., Tomato ideotypes, Eggplant landraces, Cucumis melo var. flexuosus and Sonchus oleraceus, were prepared in the experimental kitchen of MAICh.
The recipes and methodology to perform the sensory evaluation process were sent by our partners from the CAPNUTRA research team. Each recipe was blind tasted, evaluated and scored for its intrinsic organoleptic quality.
A group of about 30 tasters consisting of professionals, i.e. nutritionists, food chemists, doctors, chefs, as well as consumers from a range of societal groups participated in the sensory evaluation process that included blind-tasting and filling in a specific questionnaire prepared for the evaluation of the appearance, aroma, taste, and texture of the new products.
For the selection of the participants, gender equality and age variation were taken into consideration.
In accordance with the feedback obtained from this evaluation, the improvement of the recipe design will be discussed in order to optimize the sensory perception of the novel food products with the goal of achieving a stimulating and satisfying flavour and aroma with an appropriate texture and mouthfeel.
The BioValue team of CIHEAM MAICh would like to thank all the participants for their time and willingness to take part in this workshop.
