%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of Bitterness Intensity of Citrus Products by an Untrained Panel Using Relative-to-Reference Rating
%A Sophie Deterre
%A Julien Delarue
%A C¨¦cile Innocent
%A Pierre Giampaoli
%J Food and Nutrition Sciences
%P 80-88
%@ 2157-9458
%D 2012
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/fns.2012.31013
%X In order to estimate the bitterness intensity of citrus products we applied an adaptative sensory evaluation method, using naringin as the reference for bitterness. Twenty-five untrained subjects participated in this study. Firstly they tasted and positioned 2 naringin references on an unstructured relative-to-reference scaling to define their own bitterness scales. They then evaluated the bitterness intensity of 2 types of bitter orange products (3 distillates and 2 cold-pressed essential oils of bitter orange peels) according to their own perceptions on their own scales. We observed that 2 types of scale use could be distinguished that might be related to subjects¡¯ sensitivity or/and consumption habits to bitterness. As a result, we observed a significant difference in bitterness intensity between the crude cold-pressed essential oil and the debittered one of bitter orange, whereas there was no significant difference between the 3 distillates. This approach makes it possible to take inter-individual differences in subjects¡¯ sensitivity into account. It also provides a way to very simply rate bitterness intensity with subjects who have received no prior training in sensory evaluation.
%K Unstructured Relative-to-Reference Scaling
%K Untrained Subjects
%K Bitterness
%K Naringin
%K Bitter Orange Products
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=17084