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Sensory Evaluation

Lab Report
Practical 1: Identification of the Basic Tastes
and Umami
Title: Identification of the Basic Tastes and Umami
Introduction and Objectives:
The tongue is one of the five sensory organs in our human body. The tongue plays a
huge role in differentiating many different types of tastes Taste can be defined as the
sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a substance (Freedman,
Food, 2007) There are many types of different tastes such as sweet, sour, spicy, salty, bitter
and also umami but the tongue can only detect sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
Sweetness, usually regarded as a pleasurable sensation, can actually be derived from
many types of substances that contains aldehydes (COO-) and ketones (C=O). At least two
different variants of the "sweetness receptors" must be activated for the brain to register
sweetness, which is T1R3 and T1R2 that accounts for the sweetness receptor in mammals (Li,
2002).
Sourness is the taste that detects acidity and it can be detected by the expression of the
protein called PKD2L1. The main component of sour foods is the H+ ion. The sourness taste
can be present in wine, milk and also citrus fruits due to the presence of citric acid (Djin &
Julie, 2003)
Saltiness is the taste that detects sodium chloride (NaCl). The main component for
saltiness is the sodium ions. A sodium channel call EnaC plays an important role is detecting
the salt taste. The saltiness of food is rated relatively to sodium chloride that has the index of
1 (Mclaughlin S, 1994)
Bitterness is the taste that is the most unpleasant, sharp, and disagreeable. The main
component of bitter food is the OH- ion. Bitterness can be present in coffee, cocoa, raw food
and also vegetables such as bitter gourd. TAS2R38 is the specific receptor that will bind with
the G protein gustducin to let us taste the bitter taste (Maehashi, 2008).
Umami is said to be a savory or meaty taste that can be found in products such as
cheese, meat and also seasonings (Chandrashekar, 2006). Glutamic acid is the main
component that is responsible for the umami taste, but others such as inosinic acid and
guanylic acid also act as complements to enhance the taste.
The objectives of this experiment is to learn the methods on how to number the
samples, to determine the order of presentation, to understand the procedures of conducting
sensory test, to test on five different taste which are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.
Materials:
0.40% sucrose solution, 0.08% sodium chloride solution, 0.02% citric acid solution, 0.02%
caffeine solution, 0.01% monosodium glutamate solution, cups, masking tape and score sheet.

Procedures:
1. The 5 different test solutions provided were first poured into 5 different sample cups.
2. The sample cups were labeled using the numbering system at the back of the lab
manual.
3. The orders of the presentation were determined by using the permutation table listed
at the back of the lab manual.
4. The sensory test was then commenced and the results of the sensory tests were
recorded.
5. Researchers were discussed the result obtained and tabulated in the report.

Results:

Note:
1- 0.40% sucrose solution
2- 0.08% sodium chloride solution
3- 0.02% citric acid solution
4- 0.02% caffeine solution
5- 0.01% monosodium glutamate solution

Table 1: The total corrects from panellist of different types of solutions.

No. of code Type of solutions Total correct from panellist

1 0.4% sucrose solution 5

2 0.08% sodium chloride solution 4

3 0.02% citric acid solution 5

4 0.02% caffeine solution 5

5 0.01% monosodium glutamate solution 4


The chart of total correct from panelist against
the type of solutions.
Total correct from panelist

0
0.4% sucrose 0.08% sodium 0.02% citric 0.02% caffeine 0.01%
solution chloride acid solution solution monosodium
solution glutamate
solution
Type of solutions

Chart 1: The total corrects of type of solutions from panellist.

Discussion:

The chemical substance responsible for the taste is freed in the mouth and comes into contact
with a nerve cell. It activates the cell by changing specific proteins in the wall of the sensory
cell. This change causes the sensory cell to transmit messenger substances and further
activate the nerve cells. These nerve cells will pass information for a particular perception of
flavour on to the brain. The taste papillae on the mucous membrane of the tongue are where
the substance producing the taste is transformed into a nerve signal. They increase the surface
area of the tongue several times and make sure that individual tastes can be perceived more
intensely. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami can be sensed by all parts of the tongue. But
just only the sides of the tongue are more sensitive than the middle overall. The back of our
tongue is very sensitive to bitter tastes to protect us so that we can spit out poisonous or
spoiled foods or substances before they enter the throat and are swallowed (PubMed Health,
2016). Front of the tongue more sensitive to sweet taste, while both sides of tongue are
sensitive to sour and salty taste.

The five sample solutions (0.40% sucrose solution, 0.08% sodium chloride solution, 0.02%
citric acid solution, 0.02% caffeine solution and 0.01% monosodium glutamate solution)
were distributed to 5 panelists to be judged. By referring to Table 1, the panelists had
identified all correctly for 0.40% sucrose solution, 0.02% citric acid solution and 0.02%
caffeine solution. While 0.08% sodium chloride solution and 0.01% monosodium glutamate
solution had only 4 correct answer. Panel 1, 2, 3 and 4 had answered all correct, and panel 5
got 3 correct answers. This shown that the 4 panels were sensitive to the taste. Panel 5 was
confused with the taste of salty and umami. The reason was due to she is a meat lover and
like to take heavy-tasted food, especially salty food. The umami flavor consisted of glutamic
acid, which will then form Glutamate when dissolved in solution. It is found naturally in all
living cells, primarily in the bound form as a constituent of proteins. Only a fraction of the
glutamate in foods is in its "free" form, and only free glutamate can enhance the flavour of
foods (FDA.gov, 2012). Moreover, the meat products such as bacon and sausages are
normally taste a bit salty. Thus, she might in trouble of differentiating of the umami and salty
taste.

There are some precautions to take note on this experiment, such as the panellist should be
provided with drinking water to rinse their mouth before they are going to test the next
sample, this is to ensure that the taste of the sample will not be affected by the previous
sample and cause inaccurate interpretation. Moreover, the panellist should not be
communicating with each other to discuss on the taste of the samples given and the panellist
also should not have discussion with the researchers to show fairness. The improvement can
be made for this experiment is the concentration of the solutions should be the same for all
because different concentration will have different sensitivity toward the taste. The judges
and researchers should be brief clearly and make sure they understand how sensory test work
before in order to make the process go smoothly.

Conclusion:
In a nut shell, the way to number the sample and to determine the order of presentation is
learned and applied correctly. On the other hand, different people have different tongue
sensitivity toward taste. From the master sheet, most of the panellists in this experiment have
high sensitivity on the low concentration of solutions prepared. They can be classified as
supertasters. Moreover, it is important to know the perception and condition of the panel after
the sensory evaluation in order to improve the accuracy of result because the their preference
on taste in daily life will affect the result as their sensitivity toward specific taste might be
reduced as they are already get used to the concentration of taste.
References:
1. Chandrashekar, Jayaram; Hoon, Mark A; Ryba, Nicholas J. P. & Zuker, Charles S (16
November 2006), "The receptors and cells for mammalian taste" , Nature, 444 (7117):
288294
2. Djin Gie Liem & Julie A. Mennella, February 2003. "Heightened Sour Preferences
During Childhood". Chem Senses. 28 (2): 173180.
3. Freedman, Paul H. Food. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
4. Li XD, Staszewski L, Xu H, Durick K, Zoller M, Adler E, 2002. "Human receptors for
sweet and umami taste". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (7), pg 46924696
5. Maehashi, K., M. Matano, H. Wang, L. A. Vo, Y. Yamamoto, and L. Huang, 2008.
"Bitter peptides activate hTAS2Rs, the human bitter receptors". Biochem Biophys Res
Commun. 365 (4): 851855.
6. McLaughlin S.; Margolskee R.F., 1994. "The Sense of Taste". American Scientist. 82 (6):
538545.
7. PubMed Health. (2016). How does our sense of taste work? [online] Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072592/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].
8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (19 November 2012). "Questions and Answers on
Monosodium glutamate (MSG): How is it Made?" [online] Available at:
https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm
328728.htm [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

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