The main aim of this study was to determine whether data, obtained from FCP
and using semi-naïve panellists (experienced in descriptive techniques, but no
previous experience with cheese), could express the perceptions of South
African consumers on Cheddar cheese attributes. Firstly a panel of 220
consumers was asked to indicate their level of acceptance on a nine-point
hedonic scale for overall acceptance of 15 Cheddar cheese products, in two
locations in South Africa. The 15 Cheddar cheese samples included five retail
Cheddar cheeses from four dairy companies, four cheese samples from two
culture houses and six experimental cheeses. The ageing period of the 15
cheeses ranged from 60 to 180 days, all being mild Cheddars, except one
mature Cheddar cheese. Significant differences (p < 0.05) occurred amongst
consumer demographics for consumer acceptability. The number of cheeses
showing a significant difference for the different main effects was: gender
(two); income (one); population group (three); age (eight); and location (five).
For the overall liking attribute, there was a significant difference in acceptance
(p < 0.05) between the 15 Cheeses. Fisherâs Least Significant Difference test
at a 5% significance level was performed to determine which cheeses differed
significantly from one another for overall liking/acceptance. The most liked
cheese sample had the highest mean value of 7.16, was aged for 60 days
and yellow in colour. The least acceptable cheese had a mean value of 4.75,
was aged for 180 days and was white.
Free choice profiling (FCP) was carried out in order to investigate how
semi-naïve consumers (who had experience in descriptive work and received
minimal training on Cheddar cheese) described and perceived different
Cheddar cheese samples. This method allowed participants to use their own
attributes to describe and quantify the food product. The study used 15
different Cheddar cheeses available in South Africa, analyzed by ten
consumers in three replications. The data were analyzed by using
generalized Procrustes analysis. The FCP procedure generated between 21 and 42 attributes, with an average of 35, including 16 descriptors on the
attribute aroma, 14 descriptors on the attribute texture/appearance, 15
descriptors on the attribute mouthfeel, 20 descriptors on the attribute taste, 18
descriptors on the attribute aftertaste and nine descriptors on the attribute
afterfeel. Rubbery texture and sweet, buttery and Gouda taste and aftertaste
attributes were some of the important attributes that separated the cheeses in
the study. The results from the descriptive profiling method suggested that
the FCP method, which is less expensive and time consuming, is an
appropriate technique when used with semi-naïve assessors.
The relationship between consumer acceptability and descriptive sensory
attributes of cheddar cheese were determined by using preference mapping
(PM). The results from the PM indicated that two major (but very similar)
consumer clusters, showed higher acceptance for cheeses with more
âyoung/undevelopedâ attributes. The âidealâ Cheddar cheese, for the South
African consumer, can therefore be described as having the following
attributes: an aroma characterized by âsweetmilkâ, âGouda-likeâ and âbutteryâ
attributes; a âshinyâ appearance and ârubberyâ texture; a mouthfeel
characterized by ârubberyâ, âfattyâ, âtackyâ and âsoft- and/or hardnessâ
attributes; a âGoudaâ, âbutteryâ, âsweetâ taste; a âGoudaâ, âbutteryâ, âsweetâ
aftertaste; and an afterfeel that can be described as âfatty coatingâ and
âoily/fattyâ.
Results from this study seem to support and confirm speculations of
some cheese specialists in the dairy industry who have perceived that
Cheddar cheese, manufactured and available in the last few years, have
showed/exerted more Gouda-like sensory attributes than typical known
Cheddar-like attributes. Therefore, the results from the study indicated that
data, obtained from FCP and using semi-naïve panellists, successfully
expressed the perceptions of South African consumers on Cheddar cheese
attributes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-09172008-150223 |
| Date | 17 September 2008 |
| Creators | Prinsloo, Annelize |
| Contributors | Prof G Osthoff, Prof A Hugo, Mrs C Bothma |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-09172008-150223/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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