The Science of Deliciousness: How Do We Measure Yummyness?

Sensory Science, the scientific discipline that utilizes the human senses of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling to evaluate consumer products, is typically associated with applications in the food industry. However, humans use the same perceptional cues to evaluate non-food products, from personal care products and cosmetics to household appliances, automotives and adhesives. In all these non-food applications, an end-consumer selects products not just based on functionality and product safety, but also on affectional and perceptional cues, such as visual appearance, touch, and smell.

The sensory and consumer science toolbox includes different frameworks and methodologies aimed at understanding consumers' perception and acceptability towards a product. A thorough understanding of a product's appeal to a consumer does not stop at main functional components, but requires a holistic view on the sensory properties, presenting an analytical challenge that requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining instrumental methods with human sensory methodology – after all, the final appeal of flavor, haptics, etc. are judged by a human, not a machine.

Using real-world examples of both food and non-food products, my talk will focus on these major areas: (i) how human sensory perception works, with a focus on smell, taste, and texture; (ii) general human sensory and combined sensory-instrumental approaches to understand the sensory and affective appeal of products, and (iii) my own personal thoughts on sensory and consumer science-assisted product development, based on my own experiences with odor-active components in polyolefin materials, and complex food matrices, such as chocolate and wine.