THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY AND DESCRIPTIVE SENSORY ATTRIBUTES IN CHEDDAR CHEESE*

E.L. CASPIA1, P.C. COGGINS1,2, M.W. SCHILLING1, Y. YOON1 and C.H. WHITE1
1

Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762
Accepted for publication November 8, 2005

ABSTRACT The relationship between the consumer acceptability of Cheddar cheese and its descriptive sensory attributes was determined using preference mapping and logistic regression for three Cheddar cheeses. A trained panel (n = 9) differentiated the cheeses based on taste, aroma and textural attributes. The overall order of consumer preference (P 0.05) for the three cheeses was 9, 7 and 12 months of aging time, respectively. The trained panel characterized the 7- and 9-month-old cheeses as having young/undeveloped avors such as cooked, buttery and creamy avors, and had volatiles that were responsible for the creamy avor in cheeses. The 12-month-old cheese was characterized by aged/developed avors and included volatile compounds responsible for fruity aromas and sulfurous, earthy and free fatty acid avors. External preference mapping revealed six clusters of consumers with varying Cheddar cheese preferences; 74, 95 and 61% of the consumers found 7-, 9and 12-month-old cheeses to be acceptable, respectively.

INTRODUCTION The demand for dairy products has signicantly increased over the past 25 years. World cheese production has steadily increased from 1.18 1010 to 1.34 1010 kg in 1996 and 2004, respectively (US Dairy Export Council

* Approved for publication as Journal Article No. J-10789 of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State University, CRIS No. 501070. 2 Corresponding author: TEL: (662) 325-4002; FAX: (662) 325-8728; EMAIL: pcoggins@ ra.msstate.edu Journal of Sensory Studies 21 (2006) 112127. All Rights Reserved. 2006, The Author(s) Journal compilation 2006, Blackwell Publishing

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2004). Per capita consumption of cheese in the U.S.A. accounted for 13.6 kg in 2003, out of which 4.2 kg consisted of Cheddar cheese (USDA 2004). Consumers have a wide variety of cheese products to choose from, and depending on population segments and regional locations, avor preferences of consumers also vary. Therefore, understanding the development and variations in taste that occur during the maturation process of Cheddar cheese is an important tool in dening consumers expectations of taste. Aroma and texture of Cheddar cheese also change over ripening time, and although taste changes more readily than other sensory attributes, all may be useful in discriminating Cheddar cheese as well as explaining consumer preferences. The heterogeneous nature of milk predisposes its derived products, such as cheese, to a complex biochemical process in which three major catabolic pathways glycolysis, lipolysis and proteolysis are involved (McSweeney and Sousa 2000). As a result, new avor compounds are produced with each reaction. Flavor variations are also closely linked to the manufacturing process starting with the quality of the milk, and the aging and maturation conditions. At 68 months of age, Cheddar cheese develops most of its avor, and a full Cheddar cheese avor is generally developed after 1 year of ripening. The use of a sensory language for Cheddar cheese is important for research and marketing purposes, and although validated avor lexicons for Cheddar cheese exist (Drake et al. 2001), a variation of references and terms sometimes is needed to best t with the sensory characteristics of specic Cheddar cheeses. Both logistic regression and preference mapping may be useful in explaining the relationship between consumer acceptability, trained descriptive analysis and avor chemistry. Logistic regression is a unique way to link explanatory variables to discrete response ones (Hosmer and Lemeshow 2000). Logistic regression is very similar to multiple linear regression. The only major difference in the analyses is the nature of the response variable. In multiple linear regression, the response is a continuous variable, while in logistic regression, the response is a categorical/discrete one. This analysis has vast applications and is underutilized in sensory experimentation, but it has shown merit in explaining consumer acceptability of tenderness in chicken breasts (Schilling et al. 2003). Such statistical modeling may be useful in determining the consumer acceptability of Cheddar cheese, and its usefulness in explaining consumer acceptability should be compared to preference mapping because it is the method most frequently used to relate consumer acceptability data to descriptive sensory attributes. The objectives of this study were to determine how descriptive attributes including taste, aroma and textural attributes in commonly consumed Cheddar cheeses as well as volatile compounds present at concentrations greater than 100 ppb relate to consumer acceptability using preference mapping and logistic regression.

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MATERIALS AND METHODS Cheddar Cheese Sampling Cheddar cheese (9.1 kg) blocks were ripened for 7, 9 and 12 months and then sampled in triplicate (three replications of each aged Cheddar cheese from three different batches of milk) from the Mississippi State University Dairy Plant. After aging, the cheese blocks (9.1 kg) were cut into 0.45-kg ones, waxed, vacuum-sealed and stored at 7C in the dark for 4 months prior to starting the study. Each panelist received triplicate samples from each 7-, 9and 12-month-treatment block (9.1 kg) for each replication. Training of Panelists Nine panelists (six women and three men) were selected from the University based on availability, previous training and liking of cheese. The panelists were trained for 30 h using previously identied languages for sensory evaluation of Cheddar cheese (Murray and Delahunty 2000; Drake et al. 2001), and the majority of them had greater than 100 h of training regarding the evaluation of dairy products. Food and chemical references as well as cheese samples were used in the training. A 15-point intensity line scale where 0 = not detected and 15 = extremely strong in respect to the sensory attributes was used. Some anchors in the scale were generated during the panelists training. Sample Preparation Each 0.45-kg block of Cheddar cheese used for panelists training was cut into nine blocks that were approximately 2.45 6.35 cm in dimension. The cheese blocks were prepared 1 h prior to testing, wrapped in aluminum foil and placed on plastic plates (RS6BPY, 125/5 7/8 in., Sweetheart Cup Company, Inc. Chicago, IL). The temperature of the cheese was approximately 10C (Avsar et al. 2004) at the time of serving. The panelists were provided with unsalted crackers (Premium, Nabisco, NJ), water (Mountain Spring Water, Blue Ridge, GA) and expectoration cups to cleanse their palate between samples. Testing was conducted at the same time every day. References were prepared according to the spectrum intensity scale values of the four basic tastes or intensity references (Meilgaard et al. 1991). Flavor terms and references were obtained from standards selected to reference terms of Cheddar cheese avor language (Murray and Delahunty 2000) and the Cheddar cheese lexicon (Drake et al. 2001). Some of the reference terms, denitions and food references from these lexicons were screened and modied by the panel during the training sessions for suitability with the

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cheese analyzed. Flavor terms of the Cheddar cheese lexicon consist of 17 terms, some of which were modied such as the case of the terms diacetyl and milkfat, which were replaced by buttery and creamy, respectively, as used by Murray and Delahunty (2000). Spectrum references were also used for panelist training for aroma and textural attributes. After the training period, the panel, without access to references, evaluated three samples of Cheddar cheese, one for each ripening period for 3 days. This analysis was performed in triplicate during three consecutive months. The presentation of the sample was the same as for each of the training sessions. Each plate had a three-digit random number. The panelists were provided with unsalted crackers and ambient temperature spring water (Mountain Spring Water) for cleansing the palate. The panelists evaluated the cheese samples in an odor-free room dedicated to sensory analysis. Consumer Acceptability Consumer acceptability was evaluated in three consecutive months, each within 2 weeks of the cheese descriptive evaluation by the trained panel. The consumers (n = 140) evaluated the three cheeses in individual booths illuminated with white lighting. The samples were assigned with three-digit random numbers and served under identical conditions to the trained descriptive testing. Consumers ranked the three cheeses in their order of preference, and then evaluated them using a hedonic scale ranging from 1 (dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely) (Meilgaard et al. 1991). Each consumer evaluated each cheese for overall acceptability, overall avor, aroma, texture and appearance. Instrumental Analysis of Cheddar Cheese Extraction of Volatile Compounds. Samples were prepared rst by removing a 0.2-cm layer from each surface of the cheese to minimize avor migration. The cheese was grated using a manual cheese grater. Nineteen grams of sample was then placed in a 40-mL amber glass vial (Supelco, Bellefonte, PA), which was tightly closed. Each cap possessed a 1.5-cm-wide hole in the center equipped with Teon-faced silicone septum (22-mmwide 2-mm-thick, Supelco). The samples in the amber glass vial were held at 60C in a water bath (Isotemp 1016S, Fischer Scientic, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA) for 40 min (Chin et al. 1996). Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was used to analyze the volatile avor compounds in the Cheddar cheese treatments. A two-phase ber (carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane, Supelco) was inserted into the vial through the septum, exposed to the headspace and held for 20 min at the same temperature (60C).

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Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector. The analyses of the volatile compounds adsorbed on the ber were carried out in triplicate for each cheese treatment over three consecutive months using a Varian CP-3800 gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with a ame ionization detector (Varian Analytical Instruments, Walnut Creek, CA) and Star 5.0 Workstation data acquisition software (Palo Alto, CA). The type of column used was a 30-m 0.25-mm i.d. 0.25-mm lm thickness DB-WAX capillary column (J&W Scientic, Folsom, CA). The samples were analyzed under the following GC conditions: (1) 42-min total run time; (2) 225C injector temperature; (3) 40250C column temperature at 5C/min ramp rate; and (4) 250C detector temperature. To obtain the retention indexes of the different compounds, 0.5 mL of alkane standards (C11C25) was injected into the GC with the same program conditions, and volatile compounds were identied using Flavor Net (Acree and Arn 2004). Statistical Analyses A randomized complete block design with three replications was used to determine differences among the descriptive attributes (P 0.05) for the Cheddar cheese treatments for avor, aroma and textural attributes. Least signicant difference test was used to separate means when differences occurred. The descriptive data were further analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA, SAS 8.1, Cary, NC) (SAS Institute, Inc. 1999) to differentiate among Cheddar cheese treatments. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used to analyze the effects of three different ripening periods of Cheddar cheese on consumer acceptability. Agglomerate hierarchical clustering was performed to cluster consumers together based on their liking of Cheddar cheese. Both external preference mapping and logistic regression were conducted on the descriptive attribute data and the consumer acceptability scores to determine the relationship between sensory attributes and consumer preference. This analysis was performed on nine products (three treatments replicated thrice to make preference mapping and PCA possible).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Descriptive Analysis Flavor. The descriptive avor attribute intensity means (n = 9) for 7-, 9and 12-month Cheddar cheeses are listed in Table 1. Taste attributes such as whey, brothy, nutty, cowy, yeasty, earthy and salty were not signicantly

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TABLE 1. DESCRIPTIVE FLAVOR ATTRIBUTE INTENSITY MEANS (n = 9) FOR THE THREE MATURITY LEVELS OF CHEDDAR CHEESE* Cheese avor terms Cooked Whey Buttery Creamy Sulfur Free fatty acid Brothy Nutty Cowy Yeasty Earthy Pungent Prickle/bite Bitter Salty Sweet Sour Umami 7-month 2.2b 1.5a 1.4b 0.9b 3.7b 2.6b 1.4b 0.7b 1.4b 0.8a 1.1b 2.6b 1.9a 3.1b 2.8a 0.4b 2.9b 1.4b 9-month 2.9a 1.6a 2.2a 1.4a 3.0c 2.1b 1.8a 0.9a 1.0c 0.9a 1.0b 1.5c 1.1b 1.8c 2.9a 0.9a 2.5b 2.1a 12-month 1.6c 1.1b 1.1b 0.7b 5.8a 4.1a 1.7ab 0.9a 1.7a 0.9a 1.6a 3.5a 2.3a 4.1a 2.9a 0.5b 3.6a 1.8a

Means in a row with different superscript letters (a, b and c) represent signicant difference (P 0.05). * Intensities scored on a 15-point line scale.

different (P 0.05) among the three ripening periods. These results were rst based on differences among treatments (yeasty and salty) and then on panelists treatment interaction (whey, brothy, nutty, cowy and earthy). When the interaction plots among panelists revealed a large amount of variation among panelists for a certain attribute and did not follow the same or similar trend, the data produced led to nonsignicant differences. These irregular trends in the interaction among panelists could mean that the panelists did not distinguish differences among treatments or that no perceivable differences existed among the treatments. As found by Young et al. (2004), most of the intensities for the different attributes fall between 0 and 4 on a 15-point line scale. The Cheddar cheeses that were ripened for an average of 7 and 9 months had higher intensity scores (P 0.05) than those for 12 months, for the attributes classied as young/ undeveloped avors by Drake et al. (2001) such as cooked, buttery (diacetyl) and creamy (milkfat) (Table 1, Fig. 1). The Cheddar cheese that was ripened for 12 months had higher (P 0.05) scores for most of the attributes classied as aged/developed avors such as sulfur, free fatty

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Umami 12-month Sweet 9-month Buttery Creamy Cooked

Principal component 1 (70%)

Earthy Sulfur Free fatty acid Sour

Bitter Pungent Prickle bite

7-month

Principal component 2 (15%)

FIG. 1. PRINCIPAL COMPONENT BIPLOT OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS FOR FLAVOR ATTRIBUTES OF CHEDDAR CHEESES AGED 7, 9 AND 12 MONTHS

acid, and earthy, pungent, prickle bite, bitter and sour. Young et al. (2004), characterized the avor attribute terms of 1-, 2- and 4-month-ripened Cheddar cheeses as cooked/milky, whey, diacetyl and milkfat/lactone. Cheeses with more than 1 year of ripening were characterized by sulfur, brothy, nutty, free fatty acid and catty attribute terms (Young et al. 2004). In comparison with results obtained in this research, avor attribute terms such as brothy and nutty were not signicantly different among the three cheeses, and the term catty was only used to characterize aroma. Bitterness is usually regarded as a defect in Cheddar cheese (Suriyaphan et al. 2001). The sensory term fruity was excluded from the data after the initial statistical analysis of taste attributes (during training) because of a low perceivable intensity of this attribute by the panelists; however, a slight fruity aroma was present in all Cheddar cheese samples (Table 2). The principal component analysis biplot for avor (Fig. 1) reveals that the 9-month-ripened cheese had a more cooked, buttery and creamy taste than the other cheeses. The 12-month-ripened Cheddar cheese was differentiated from the other two cheeses because it possessed the characteristic aged Cheddar cheese tastes, such as sulfur and free fatty acid avors. This cheese was

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TABLE 2. DESCRIPTIVE AROMA ATTRIBUTE INTENSITY MEANS (n = 9) FOR THE THREE MATURITY LEVELS OF CHEDDAR CHEESE* Cheese aroma terms Cooked Whey Buttery Creamy Fruity Sulfur Free fatty acid Brothy Nutty Cowy Sweaty Earthy Pungent Yeasty Catty 7-month 2.6a 1.5a 2.1a 1.3a 1.3b 3.1b 2.1b 0.9a 0.7b 1.2b 1.2b 1.0b 1.5b 0.8a 1.2b 9-month 2.7a 1.6a 2.4a 1.5a 1.1b 2.9b 1.7c 1.1a 0.9ab 1.2b 1.2b 1.1ab 1.1b 1.1a 1.1b 12-month 1.7b 1.1b 1.6b 0.9b 2.3a 5.0a 3.2a 1.2a 1.0a 1.9a 1.7a 1.4a 2.5a 1.1a 1.8a

Means in a row with different superscript letters (a, b and c) represent signicant difference (P 0.05). * Intensities scored on a 15-point scale.

also bitterer, sourer and earthier, and had a more prickle bite taste than the 7- and 9-month-aged Cheddar cheeses. According to the eigenvalues (percentage by which variation is explained in the biplot), 70% of the variation is explained by dimension 1, and almost 15% of the variation is explained by dimension 2. This means that taste attributes that are closer to dimension 1 (horizontal) are major determinants of variation in the three maturation levels of Cheddar cheese. It is apparent from the taste data that Cheddar cheeses between 7 and 12 months of aging can be differentiated from each other using descriptive taste attributes. Aroma. The results for aroma were similar to those found in avor. There was a signicant difference (P 0.05) in the mean intensities of young/ undeveloped avors and aged/developed avors (Table 2). Aroma attributes such as fruity, sulfur, free fatty acid and pungent were noticeably higher in the 12-month-ripened cheese. The 7- and 9-month-ripened cheeses were clearly characterized by cooked, whey, buttery and creamy aromas. During maturation of Cheddar cheese, there is an increase in the ratings for sulfur aroma (Muir et al. 1995). According to Dacremont and Vickers (1994), the most important compounds for Cheddar cheese aroma are butyric

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9-month

Buttery Creamy 12-month Sulfur

Principal component 1 (93.06%)

Fruity Free fatty acid Pungent

Cooked

7-month

Principal component 2 (3.94%)

FIG. 2. PRINCIPAL COMPONENT BIPLOT OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS FOR AROMA ATTRIBUTES OF CHEDDAR CHEESES AGED 7, 9 AND 12 MONTHS

acid, diacetyl and methional. In the aroma attribute terms used in the descriptive analysis, these can be described as free fatty acid, buttery and sulfur aromas. The principal component analysis biplot for aroma (Fig. 2) clearly differentiates the three cheeses. Sulfur-containing compounds and free fatty acids are mainly responsible for the aroma in Cheddar cheese and have a much higher content in the oldest cheese. Texture. Texture terms with signicant differences among treatments were rmness and slipperiness for mouth evaluation terms, and rmness and slipperiness for hand evaluation terms. This reveals that texture may change as a result of ripening, but is not as helpful at differentiating the evaluated cheeses as taste and aroma. Using texture prole analysis methodology, Creamer and Olson (1982) and Charalambides et al. (1995) found signicant differences in rmness and crumbliness after analyzing cheeses from 1 to 12 months of age. As shown by their results, differences may be able to be measured instrumentally for cheeses with ripening periods from 7 to 11 months but were not highly perceivable by panelists in this experiment. According to Pollard et al. (2003), rmness of cheese decreases during maturation because of the breakdown of

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the casein matrix in proteolysis and a slight increase in solid fat because of moisture loss. Volatile Compounds Volatile compounds identied by the SPME method using the GC-ame ionization detector were shown in Table 3. Odorant compounds responsible for fruity aromas identied in the 12-month Cheddar cheese were ethyl butyrate and hexanone. Compounds such as acethylthiophene were responsible for sulfur avors found in the 9-month Cheddar cheese. Hexanoic and decanoic acids are free fatty acids dened as strong contributors of rancid and sweaty avors. Other compounds identied include isobutyl methoxypyrazine, which contributes to an earthy avor, and ketones such as nonanone and hexanone responsible for green, fruity avors, etc. Suriyaphan et al. (2001) conrmed that an earthy avor in cheese was because of 2-isopropyl-3methoxypyrazine and at much lower odor intensity, this same compound contributed to a bell pepper-like note. Some of the identied odorants of the 7- and 9-month cheeses were 2-hexenol with a green leaf/wine odor, and some lactone compounds with green leaf, soap, fruity odors such as g-nonalactone and z-octalactone. Ethyl butyrate was only found in the 12-month cheese. This compound has an apple odor. Manning and Robinson (1973) characterized Cheddar cheese as mainly containing volatile compounds such as hydrogen sulde, methanethiol and dimethyl sulde. Dimethyl pyrazine was only identied in the 9-month-ripened cheese. According to Christensen and Reineccius (1995), other volatile compounds indicative of age in Cheddar cheese are ethyl acetate, 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, 2,3-butanedione, a-pinene, ethyl butyrate, ethyl caproate, 1-octen-3-one, acetic acid, methional, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, caproic acid, capric acid and lauric acid. Consumer Acceptability Signicant differences (P 0.05) occurred among cheese treatments for consumer acceptability (Table 4). The 9-month Cheddar cheese received the highest mean score of 7.53 for overall liking, which corresponds to between like moderately and like very much in the hedonic scale. According to the descriptive analysis performed by the trained panel (Fig. 3), this cheese had stronger cooked, creamy and buttery avors compared with the other cheeses (7- and 12-month). The 12-month-ripened cheese had the lowest mean score of liking of 5.75, which is categorized as between like slightly and neither like nor dislike in the 9-point hedonic scale. On average, consumers found the 12-month cheese acceptable. Bitter avors were highly perceivable

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TABLE 3. VOLATILE COMPOUNDS PRESENT IN THE HEADSPACE OF CHEDDAR CHEESES AGED 7, 9 AND 12 MONTHS AS DETERMINED USING A GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY FLAME IONIZATION DETECTOR AND SOLID PHASE MICROEXTRACTION No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Compound name Methyl butanoate Methyl methylbutyrate Butanol Ethyl butyrate Hexanone (z)-4-heptenal 2-hexenol 2-octanol Nonanone Ethyl hexanoate Dimethyl pyrazine 2-octenal Linalool oxide Ethyl octanoate 3,6-nonadienal Nonenal Isobutyl methoxypyrazine 2-nonenal Isobutyric acid Ethyl phenyl acetate 2,4-octadienal 2,4-decadienal (-)-y-elemene Methylbutyric acid 2,4-nonadienal Acethylthiophene Hexanoic acid (e)-oak lactone g-nonalactone 4-propyl guaiacol (z)-decalactone Decanoic acid Isopropyl palmitate Indole Dodecanoic acid DB-WAX RI 990 1015 1024 1028 1060 1216 1228 1336 1388 1220 1240 1408 1423 1436 1444 1502 1510 1510 1563 1600 1605 1632 1636 1662 1709 1785 1829 1933 2042 2146 2216 2316 2358 2450 2517 Odor description Ether, fruit, sweet Apple Wine Apple Ether, grape Fatty Leaf, green, wine Mushroom, fat Hot milk, soap, green Apple peel, fruit Nut, peanut butter, meat Green Flower, wood Fruit, fat Fat, soap Paper Earth, spice, green pepper Orris, fat, cucumber Butter, cheese, rancid Fruit, sweet Green, seaweed, cucumber Seaweed Green, wood, oil Cheese, sweat Fat, wax, green Sulfur Sweat Coconut ower Coconut, peach Phenol Coconut Fat Fat Mothball, burnt Metal 7-month * 9-month * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 12-month * *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* * * * * * *

* Found chemicals from the instrumental analysis.

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TABLE 4. MEAN SCORES FOR CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY (n = 140) OF CHEDDAR CHEESES AGED 7, 9 AND 12 MONTHS* Cheese ripening period 7-month 9-month 12-month Overall acceptability 6.66 7.53a 5.75c
b

Flavor 6.26 7.46a 5.46c

b

Aroma 6.87 7.08a 6.20b

a

Texture 7.09 7.25a 6.95a

a

Appearance 7.53a 7.39a 7.36a

Means with different superscript letters (a, b and c) are signicantly different (P 0.05). * Scores based on a 9-point hedonic scale.

Umami

Cluster 1 Sweet Cluster 5

Cluster 3

9-month 9 month
Buttery Creamy Cooked
Principal component 1 (70%)

Earthy Sulfur Free fatty acid Sour

12-month 12 month
Bitter Pungent Prickle bite

7-month 7 month
Cluster 2 Cluster 4 Cluster 6

Principal component 2 (15%)

FIG. 3. EXTERNAL PREFERENCE MAP OF COMBINED CONSUMER DATA WITH DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS RESULTS OF CHEDDAR CHEESES AGED 7, 9 AND 12 MONTHS

in some of the 12-month cheeses (Fig. 3), which inuenced consumer preferences. The descriptive analysis performed on this cheese revealed that aside from bitterness, taste attributes such as earthy, sulfur, free fatty acid, pungent and prickle bite were characteristic of this cheese. The means obtained for avor were very similar to that obtained for the evaluation of overall liking (Table 4) and were also signicantly different (P 0.05). This demonstrates that consumer liking of a product is especially based on taste (Avsar et al. 2004). For aroma, no signicant difference was found between 7- and

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TABLE 5. MEAN SCORES IN THE HEDONIC SCALE FOR OVERALL ACCEPTABILITY OF THE DIFFERENT CLUSTERS OF CONSUMER SEGMENTS* Cluster Number of consumers 23 24 13 7 44 29 7-month Cheddar cheese 3.45 6.88 5.31 8.00 7.27 8.28 9-month Cheddar cheese 7.52 7.79 6.15 4.43 8.57 7.10 12-month Cheddar cheese 3.65 3.67 7.77 4.14 6.93 6.83

1 2 3 4 5 6

* Scores based on a 9-point scale hedonic scale.

9-month-ripened Cheddar cheeses. These cheeses were preferred over the 12-month ones because of avor attributes. The 12-month cheese had the lowest score for aroma with a mean score of 6.20, which corresponds to like slightly in the 9-point hedonic scale. The trained panel distinguished the classied young/undeveloped aromas such as cooked, buttery, whey and creamy, which seemed to be preferred by consumers, as opposed to the aged/developed Cheddar cheese aromas of cowy, sulfur, free fatty acid, pungent, sweaty and fruity. No signicant differences existed for consumers evaluation of texture and appearance of the cheeses. External Preference Mapping External preference mapping was performed to relate descriptive analysis data with consumer acceptability (XLSTAT 7.5, Microsoft Excel). Six clusters of consumers with different (P 0.05) cheese preferences were obtained (Fig. 3). These results are very similar to those reported by Young et al. 2004. These researchers used a greater variety of cheeses as well as different types of cheese from this study and also obtained six clusters of consumers. The majority of the consumers were in cluster 5 (44 consumers), followed by cluster 6 (29 consumers, Table 5). These two clusters were characterized by people who liked all three cheeses. These two clusters rated all cheeses with scores over 6.5 in the hedonic scale. Clusters 1 (23 consumers) and 5 (44 consumers) preferred the 12-month Cheddar cheese. This cheese is associated with the young/undeveloped avors (cooked, buttery and creamy). Cluster 2 (24 consumers) also preferred young/undeveloped avors from the 9-month Cheddar cheese, followed closely by the 7-month cheese. This segment disliked the oldest cheese, possibly for having bitter or aged/developed avors. Cluster 3 (13 consumers) preferred the 12-month Cheddar cheese. This

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segment preferred aged/developed avors. Cluster 4 (seven consumers) preferred the 7-month-ripened Cheddar cheese with a mean score of 8 in the 9-point hedonic scale. Cluster 6 (29 consumers) also preferred the youngest cheese (7-month), but they liked all cheese treatments. Logistic regression was also performed in an attempt to predict consumer acceptability based on taste and aroma attributes, but low coefcient of determination (R2 0.40) revealed that logistic regression did not work as well as preference mapping in relating consumer acceptability to trained descriptive analysis. This is most likely because of both small sample size and a large amount of variation in Cheddar cheese preference among consumers, because logistic regression should be applicable to acceptability and marketing data when the response variable has -3 categories. The differences in preferences of cheese taste among the different consumer segments indicate that specic avor proles of Cheddar cheese could be marketed to specic target market segments. On the one hand, correlation analysis demonstrated positive correlation among young/undeveloped tastes such as cooked, whey, buttery and creamy. On the other hand, these terms are negatively correlated with the aged, developed tastes of Cheddar cheese such as sulfur, free fatty acid, cowy, earthy, pungent and prickle bite. Basic tastes such as bitter and sour are negatively correlated with the young/undeveloped tastes. Sweet and umami are positively correlated with young tastes. Even though Cheddar cheese can be differentiated by aroma as well as taste attributes, preference mapping revealed that the aroma attributes of these three Cheddar cheeses did not relate well to the segments of consumers (P 0.05) for ve out of the six consumer clusters.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, this demonstrates that neither texture nor aroma could be used to relate descriptive sensory analysis to consumer preference, but that taste attributes relate well to consumer preference in this application. Presence of avor compounds at previously mentioned detectable limits using the SPME method also relates well to both the consumer acceptability and avor and aroma attributes of descriptive analysis.

REFERENCES ACREE, T. and ARN, H. 2004. Flavor net. http://www.avornet.org (accessed 2005).

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