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Variabilità individuale nella percezione dell’olio extravergine di oliva: sensazioni critiche e flavor
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Individual sensitivity to critical oral sensations and effect on dynamic sensory perception: a case study on extra virgin olive oil
No full textThe extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is highly appreciated for its unique flavour. The interplays between the phenolic fraction, responsible for the chemosensory profile, and the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), responsible of a wide range of aromas, make the EVOO perception a complex and dynamic sensory experience. Dynamic sensory methodologies (e.g. Temporal Check-All-That-Apply - TCATA) allow to temporally investigating the evolution of perceptions and the interaction among sensations during food tasting. Individual variability in sensitivity to oral sensations (e.g. Bitterness) has already demonstrated to influence food perception, suggesting an effect on the dynamic perception and on the interactions among sensations. In this context, the aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of individual sensitivity toward critical chemosensory sensations (bitterness, astringency and pungency) on the dynamic sensory perception of EVOOs.
Six Italian EVOOs (different phenolic and VOCs profile) and two tasting conditions (pure oil and oil in combination with bread) were tested. After training on sensory descriptors, a panel of 20 assessors (50% females) evaluated the samples in triplicate trough TCATA methodology. Individual sensitivity toward bitterness, astringency and pungency was assessed trough intensity evaluation of five water solutions with increasing concentration.
Physiological curves allowed obtaining clusters with different sensitivity toward bitterness, astringency and pungency. Preliminary data elaborations indicate that variability in sensitivity toward the tested oral sensations seems to affect the dynamic perception of EVOOs, suggesting a different sensory experience during their consumption depending on the person.
Next step is to couple dynamic sensory profiles with Nose Space analysis of VOCs through a Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry, to study the relationship between VOCs release and dynamic sensory perception. The optimized combined methods will be applied to discriminate EVOOs within the project “VIOLIN” (Project AGER2-Rif.2016-0169 funded by Cariplo Foundation), aimed to valorise and promote the PDO Italian EVOO
European consumers' involvement with date labels and implications for household food waste
Full text linkFood waste (FW) in the European Union remains a significant challenge, with over 58 million tons generated annually. Consumer behavior, particularly in relation to food-date labels, is a key factor influencing FW. This study focuses on patterns of involvement with date labels, examining how understanding, attention, and behavioral responses to date labels vary across consumer segments. By clustering consumers based on these dimensions, the research aims to identify distinct involvement patterns toward date labels and the impact on FW decisions. The study involved 1507 consumers (54.6 % female, mean age = 44.9 years) from six EU countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden). Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing their understanding, attention, and behavioral responses to date labels, alongside their reported domestic FW behaviors, sociodemographics, and FW management skills. Results indicate that 75.2 % of European consumers understand the difference between ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates, and over 80 % correctly identify the meanings of these terms. Increased understanding correlates with reduced household FW, but this factor alone is insufficient to significantly lower waste levels. Additionally, enhanced use of date labels plays a crucial role in minimizing FW. The study identifies distinct consumer segments toward date labels: “Higher involvement” segment (23.9 % of subjects), who rely on date labels for food management, “Lower involvement” segment (33.4 %), who base their decisions on other elements such as sensory cues, and “Medium involvement” segment (42.6 %), which shows intermediate characteristics. This segmentation provides valuable insights for designing targeted interventions aimed at improving date label usage and reducing household F
A screening tool for sustainability: a preliminary study on an Italian consumer sample
No full textIt is known that consumers’ quality perception and acceptability of a product is based both on the intrinsic properties and on the extrinsic characteristics, linked with label information (Fernqvist & Ekelund, 2014). In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing interest in these external characteristics, especially those sustainability-related. Furthermore, their effect on consumer acceptability is found to vary depending on consumer consciousness to the information given (Endrizzi et al., 2015).
Here we present the results of a preliminary study, which aim to explore a screening tool able to segment consumers according to their attitudes towards sustainability in order to be used in testing acceptability of food products of animal origin.
The 15-item Welsh screening tool for sustainability (Poortinga & Darnton, 2016), was conveniently translated in Italian and then submitted to 79 consumers who rated their degree of importance, agreement and concern on a 9-point scale depending on the response option expected by each statement. Few self-reported food behaviours were also included in the questionnaire to cover the food sustainability domain (not present in the Welsh questionnaire) in terms of food diet (omnivorous, flexitarian or vegetarian/vegan), the percentage of weekly food waste, and that of organic and zero food miles products weekly purchased. Willingness to pay more for an organic, attentive to animal welfare, environmental friendly or mountain pasture product was also recorded.
A combined approach of hierarchical and k-means clustering analysis identified three consumer segments (Pragmatists 42%, Sustainability-oriented 39% and Unattached 19%) that relate differently to personal value dimensions, views on sustainability and sustainable living, perception on climate change and energy security, living place attachment, self-reported food behaviours and distinct gender composition.
These preliminary results highlight that the associations between the screening tool and self-reported food-related behaviours support the validity of consumer segmentation for the Italian sample
Understanding extra virgin olive oil flavour: nose-space analysis by PTR-ToF-MS and relation with dynamic sensory perception
No full textThe extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is highly appreciated for its unique flavor. The release kinetics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from EVOO matrix within the oral cavity is a complex process influencing the evolution of sensory attributes detected by consumers. For this reason, the nose-space (NS) analysis of VOCs may unravel the oral processes occurring during EVOO tasting. Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry coupled to Time-of-Flight (PTR-ToF-MS) analyzer offers the possibility to follow the foodstuff consumption in real time. PTR-ToF-MS was already successfully applied for NS analysis of apples, cereal bars, and coffee. In the present contribution, we report a feasibility study aiming to verify the applicability of NS analysis for the description and discrimination of EVOO individually and with respect to the combination of different food matrices which represent the real ways of EVOO consumption. Two Italian EVOOs and three tasting conditions were tested: pure oil, oil combination with tomato sauce and with bread. A panel of 8 assessors (4 females and 4 males) evaluated the 6 products in duplicate. The sampling of NS was carried out by applying an ergonomic glass nosepiece to the nostrils of the judges and connected to the PTR–ToF–MS 8000 (Ionicon Analytik GmbH). The individual profiles differed in peak intensity and duration for several masses detected. However, it was possible to distinguish the two types of oils. EVOO on bread showed higher signals intensities for all the subjects while adding tomato sauce decreased the volatile compounds reaching the nose.
Next step is the coupling of NS analysis with dynamic sensory profiles to study the relationship between VOCs released and sensory perception. The optimized combined methods will be applied to study different EVOO within the project “VIOLIN” (Project AGER2-Rif.2016-0169 funded by Cariplo Foundation), aimed to valorize and promote the PDO Italian EVOO
Valorizzazione sensoriale a supporto della biodiversità: il caso studio del miele millefiori trentino
No full textIntrinsic and extrinsic factors driving the adoption of eco-friendly food packaging among European consumers
No full textContribution of volatile organic compounds to multifloral honey flavor
No full textWith the scope of exploring flavor determinants of multifloral honeys, the VOC profile of multifloral honeys from Trentino area were acquired by SPME/GC-MS and associated with the sensory descriptive profiles obtained by Check-all-that-apply (CATA) method generated by a trained panel of honey expert
Novel sensory and instrumental tools to grasp the flavour of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils
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