EXPERIMENT 37 SENSORY EVALUATION

OF FOOD PRODUCTS −
HEDONIC RATING TEST
Structure
37.0 Objectives
37.1 Introduction
37.2 Experiment: Hedonic Rating Test for Ketchup Samples
37.2.1 Principle
37.2.2 Requirements
37.2.3 Procedure
37.2.4 Observations and Calculations
37.2.5 Results

37.3 Precautions

37.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying and performing this experiment, you should be able to:
• carry out Hedonic rating test on a set of food products; and
• analyse the data to find out the order of their quality of consumer preference for the
samples.

37.1 INTRODUCTION
Sensory quality of food products is of great importance to both the producer or pro-
cessor and the consumer. Good quality products attract the consumer by satisfying his
aesthetic and gustatory senses. Therefore, it is always the endeavour of the processor
to produce the best quality product or produce a product having certain qualities ac-
cepted by the consumer in a product already available in the market.
You have already learnt the importance and various aspects of sensory analysis in the
theory unit “Sensory Evaluation”. Please brush up before performing this test. There
are different sensory test methods to suit specific purposes. One of the frequent
requirements of the processor while developing a product is to find out the relative
acceptability of his product compared to three or four market sample or to develop a
product close to the best in the market. One of the simplest sensory test methods to
generate such information is the Hedonic rating test. In this exercise, you will learn the
method and carry out the test.

37.2 EXPERIMENT: HEDONIC RATING TEST FOR

KETCHUP SAMPLES
37.2.1 Principle
The Hedonic rating test is used to measure the consumer acceptability and preference
of food products. The panellist is asked to rate the acceptability of the product on a 101
Practical Manual --- scale of 9 points, ranging from “like extremely” to “dislike extremely”. The data are
Chemical Analysis and analysed to find out the average of the panellists ratings from which the order of
Quality Assurance
preference if found out.

37.2.2 Requirements
The primary requirement for any sensory test is the panel of members (panellists). For
many sensory tests including the Hedonic rating test, a semi-trained panel is sufficient.
The minimum number of panellists required for this test is ten. They should be selected
from a larger number of people and should be familiarised (trained) with the quality
attributes of the product being tested (or they should be familiarised by proper briefing)
and the procedure. They should also have at least average sensitivity to the sensory
quality attributes like colour and appearance, flavour and taste etc. Besides, they should
be willing to spend the time to do the test.
The other requirements are a well-lighted (white light) room with tables (preferably
white tops) and chairs. Assuming that 4 samples (tomato ketchup as in this test) are
evaluated and 10 panellists are going to evaluate the products, the following glassware
and other items are also required.
White porcelain saucers : 12 (These are sufficient for serving a set of the four
samples to three panellists. The saucers can be cleaned
and reused)
Teaspoons : 12
Glass tumblers for water : 10
Bread : 1 loaf
Evaluation cards : 10
(Sample shown below)
Specimen evaluation card
HEDONIC RATING TEST
Name…………………… Date…….........
Product: Tomato ketchup
Taste the four samples of tomato ketchup and check how much you like or dislike
each one. Use the appropriate scale to show your attitude by checking at the point that
describes your feeling about the sample.

Scale Ketchup Samples

Code No. Code No. Code No. Code No.

Like extremely

Like very much

Like moderately

Like slightly

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 Sensory Evaluation of Food
Neither like nor dislike Products - Hedonic
Rating Test
Dislike slightly
Dislike moderately
Dislike very much
Dislike extremely
Reason for like/dislike

(Signature of panellist)

Three columns are provided to accommodate more than one sample if all of them fall
at the same point.

37.2.3 Procedure
In this test, four tomato ketchup samples are tested for the preference. One sample
could be the one prepared in a factory and the others are the three market samples.
Otherwise, all the four samples could be market samples. The ketchup bottles are first
marked with code numbers. It is preferable to have three digit random number codes
to avoid bias. Single digit numbers like 1,2,3, 4 are likely to cause bias. For example,
some panellists may have a tendency to assume No. 1 is the best and No.4 is the worst
and vive versa. Random numbers can be taken from random number tables or generated
from a calculator. An example of assigning random numbers to four samples is shown
below.

Ketchup Sample Code No.

A 897

B 281

C 951

D 418
In the same way, the sets of four saucers are also numbered and small quantities of the
ketchup samples are taken in them. Before starting the evaluation, the panellists are
briefed about the test procedure, what to look for in the quality of tomato ketchup, two
or more samples may be given the same rating if found so etc. Each product has its
own quality attributes. For example, in the case of tomato ketchup, good quality attributes
are bright characteristic tomato red colour, thick consistency, does not flow easily
when the saucer is tilted, does not show separation of serum around the ketchup sample
in the saucer etc.
The set of four saucers containing the samples is given to each panellist along with the
evaluation card. Drinking water to rinse mouth in between tasting of two samples to
clear the taste of the previous sample is provided. Similarly, cubes of bread are provided
for eating for the same purpose. If a panellist requires more samples, the same should
be provided. On completion of the evaluation, the evaluation cards are collected and
the data are analysed as shown below. 103
Practical Manual --- 37.2.4 Observations and Calculations
Chemical Analysis and
Quality Assurance To analyse the results, numerical values are assigned to each point on the scale, 1 is
usually given to ‘like extremely’ and 9 to ‘dislike extremely’. The scores received for
each sample from all the panellists are averaged and compared. The data are tabulated
as shown in the following table. The numerical values given in the table are only examples.
You have to enter the actual values.
Panellist Sample A Sample B Sample C Sample D

1 3 3 6 5

2 4 3 4 5

3 3 1 4 4

4 2 2 3 4

5 3 1 2 3

6 3 2 7 6

7 2 2 3 5

8 3 2 3 8

9 5 3 7 7

10 3 2 4 6

Total 31 21 43 53

Mean Score 3.1 2.1 4.3 5.3

37.2.5 Results
Since the numerical scores are assigned in the reverse order i.e., 1 for the highest
quality and 9 for the lowest quality point, lower the score total or score average higher
the preference. Therefore, the rating of the quality (preference) of the four tomato
ketchup samples is in the following order:
Sample B > Sample A > Sample C > Sample D

37.3 PRECAUTIONS
The general precautions mentioned in the course ‘Introduction’ and those indicated
in the experiments should be followed meticulously.

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