The development of sensory analysis techniques in the food industry and the research progress

Sensory analysis plays a crucial role in the food industry, serving as an essential tool in product development, quality control, and consumer research. It involves evaluating the sensory attributes of food products-taste, aroma, texture, and appearance. Although human-based sensory evaluation is widely used and relatively developed, it is likely to be affected by subjective issues. Moreover, the result of sensory evaluation is difficult to standardize and quantify. To address this, instrumental analysis methods have been introduced to establish correlations between the chemical composition or physical properties of food and the outcomes of sensory evaluation. However, the data generated from instrumental analysis are often large and complex. To link these data with sensory evaluation results, chemometric methods are employed for analysis. With advancements in technology, more cutting-edge tools, such as electronic noses and electronic tongues, have been applied to sensory analysis. Due to their rapid assessment and ability to detect multiple indicators, these technologies are becoming increasingly popular in industrial applications.