SENSORY PROFILING - A METHOD FOR DESCRIBING THE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

Sensory profiling is an objective, descriptive technique which uses a panel of trained assessors. It was used at Campden to differentiate ol ive oil which differed in terms of the country of origin, variety, rip eness and extraction techniques. The data were related to similar resu lts from the Netherlands and Italy. The results indicated that all thr ee sensory panels perceived the samples in the same way, however, the differed in the way the oils were described. The new European legislat ion on olive oil is partially concerned with the sensory aspects of th e oil. The sensory grading takes into account the 'positive' and 'nega tive' attributes in the oil before giving an overall quality grade. Th ese attributes do not reflect the consumer requirements, therefore, th e grading should be restricted to the assessment of the presence or ab sence of sensory defects.