Sensory evaluation of spaghetti: A proficiency test

Abstract

The compliance of results of sensory analysis is extremely important in product characterization. The sensory analysis is highly dependent on the ability of the panellist to perform their assessment with high degree of repeatability and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to apply the general design of proficiency testing scheme to the sensory assessment of dry and cooked spaghetti in order to inspect and compare the performance of descriptive panels with different levels of expertise. Proficiency testing scheme was conduct between nine sensory panels. Sensory properties of dry and cooked spaghetti were evaluated by using the previously developed 5-point category scale with end-points labelled from 1 to 5. The panels were asked to evaluate the quality of dry and cooked spaghetti visualy, palpatory and gustatory. The obtained data was interpreted and evaluated on the basis of Z-score. In this way, the competence of a single panel to perform the chosen sensory test was assessed.