FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE

KUALA LUMPUR CAMPUS

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) FOOD SCIENCES

BAFS2333 - Sensory Evaluation

Practical 4: Comparison of Discrimination Test Methods II

Program: RFN2 (GROUP3)

Lecturer: Ms. Lim
Date of Experiment: 9-11-2017

Name Student ID
Lim Yan Chen 17WLR09084
Wong Xi Ying 17WLR09098
Yap Teck Kiat 17WLR09099
Introduction:

Efficiencies in food production, without any compromise on quality, is an area of importance for
all companies. Sensory discrimination testing can support the realisation of efficiencies however
there are many methods to choose from depending on the requirements of the company. There are
many discrimination test available such as duo-trio tests and directional paired comparison test
that used in this practicum.

The duo-trio test, developed by Peryam and Swartz (1950), represented an alternative to the
triangle test that, for some, was a more complex test psychologically. The duo-trio test was found
to be useful for products that had relatively intense taste, odor, and/or kinestethetic effects such
that may impact sensitivity (Meilgaard, 2007). A Duo-Trio Test is an overall difference test which
will determine whether or not a sensory difference exists between two samples. This method is
particularly useful to determine whether product differences result from a change in ingredients,
processing, packaging, or storage. Besides, it can use to determine whether an overall difference
exists, where no specific attributes can be identified as having been affected

The directional difference test determines with a given confidence level whether or not there is a
perceivable difference in the intensity of a specified attribute between two samples. The directional
difference test is inappropriate when evaluating products with sensory characteristics that are not
easily specified, not commonly understood, or not known in advance (Stone, 2004). It is desirable
to hold a preliminary discussion between the assessors and the test supervisor, on the problem
concerned and the nature of the samples to decide the attribute to test on.

In this practicum, the objective is to determine whether a difference exist between two brands of
bread using duo-trio test and directional paired comparison method. Besides, we learn to become
familiar with different discrimination test methods. We also study the relative sensitivities of
different discrimination test methods. The null hypothesis of this practicum is there is no
significant difference between Massimo bread and Gardenia bread.
Result:

Table 1: The total corrects from 15 panelists with the duo-trio test and directional paired
comparison test of Gardenia white bread and Massimo white bread.

Methods Duo-Trio Test Directional paired

comparison test
Number of panelists correct (softness)
Group A panelists total correct 3/7 5/7
Group B panelists total correct 5/8 6/8
Total correct from both panelists group 8/15 11/15
Significant difference No No
Hypothesis Accepted Accepted

Discussion:

From this experiment, 2 different bread were used to conduct two different discriminative
test which is Duo-Trio Test and Directional paired comparison test (test for softness of bread).
There were 15 panelists to conduct the sensory evaluation in this experiment. Based on table 1,
the total correct from 15 panelist for Duo-Trio Test is 8 while Directional paired comparison test
is 11. Based on the result in table 1, the hypothesis is accepted which means that there are no
significant differences between Gardenia white bread and Massimo white bread. The confidence
level of 95% from the statistical chart 4 allows 5% error during the test.

The result of directional paired comparison test show that there is no difference in softness
between the samples. A result of no significant difference in softness does not ensure that there
are no differences between the two samples in other attributes or characteristics, nor does it indicate
that the attribute is the same for both samples.

The result above was not accurate due to panelists which conduct the experiment very
quickly Speed or quickness may affect the results during sensory evaluation because without
accuracy, speed is inessential and unnecessary.

The Duo-trio test is equally sensitive to the triangle test and is simple and easily understood.
Compared with the Paired Comparison test, it has the advantage that a reference sample is
presented which avoids confusion with respect to what constitutes a difference, but a disadvantage
is that three samples, rather than two, must be tasted.
Conclusion:

The hypothesis is accepted. There is no significant difference between Gardenia white bread and
Massimo white bread. In this practicum, we learned the procedure to carry out two discrimination
tests which are Duo-Trio test and Directional paired comparison test. In conclusion, Duo-trio test
determine the overall difference between samples whereas directional paired comparison test
determine difference in certain attribute between samples.

Reference

Amerine, M. A., Pangborn, R. M. and Roessler, E. B. 1965. Principles of sensory

evaluation. Academic, New York, NY.

Meilgaard, M., G. V. Civille and B. T. Carr (2007). Sensory Evaluation Techniques, 4th Ed. New
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 6: 72 79.

Stone, H., and Sidel., J.L. (2004). Sensory Evaluation Practices, 3rd edition. Elsevier Academic
Press, San Diego, CA, 5: 152-153