Descriptive analysis methods began with the Flavor Profile Method (Caul, 1957)
developed by the Arthur D Little Company in the early 1950s. Several
food and pharmaceutical companies developed Flavor Profile panels over
the next several decades. General Foods [now a part of Kraft]
maintained several Flavor Profile panels for research and development
and for quality purposes and began to change the Flavor Profile Method
to adapt it to the various products and applications that needed
detailed flavor descriptions. These adaptations included modifications
such as: expanding the Flavor Profile 7 point scale to 14 points; using a
control sample as a calibration sample in each tasting session; using
intensity references as well as references for the terms or attributes
used in the description; training panelists extensively and validating
them for use on specific product testing; providing rigorous treatment
of product procurement and preparation to insure product sampling
integrity.
In addition, the Texture Center at General Foods was developing the
Texture Profile Method, based on the Flavor Profile method and
underpinned by the texture technology developed by Alina Szcsesniak and
her team (Szczesniak, 1963); (Szczesniak, Brandt and Friedman, 1963); (Civille and Szczesniak 1973).
With this foundation in Flavor and Texture Profile understanding and
application to documenting products in development and operations, Gail
Vance Civille developed the Spectrum™ Descriptive Analysis method during
the 1970s and presented the method at the 3 IFT
Sensory Evaluation Courses in 1979. The Spectrum Method incorporates
the rigor of the training and structure of the Flavor and Texture
Profile Methods and then adds a more refined scale [over 150 points of
discrimination]; application of statistical methods to the descriptive
data; and expansion to products outside of food and beverage, such as
personal care products [both skinfeel and fragrance] and paper and
fabrics [both fragrance and tactile feel]. (Meilgaard, Civille, Carr,
2007)
In the last 20 years the Spectrum™ Descriptive Analysis Method has
been used in government labs to document the sensory properties of
commodities and products that use commodities. Academia uses the
Spectrum™ Method to monitor and track basic and applied research in
foods, personal care and paper products. However, the bulk of the
application of the method is in R&D departments of consumer product
companies globally to document the sensory properties for product
development and quality control with accuracy and reliability.
The Spectrum™ Method supports the interest of product developers who
need a clear documentation of a product attributes and their
intensities that allows product profiles to be compared across products
and across time with the same level of confidence the researcher expects
from instrumental data. Descriptive analysis data should provide a
product profile that allows the product developer to see the direction
that process, ingredients or time have had on the product’s sensory
characteristics.
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