Abstract
Discrimination tests should be used when the sensory specialist wants to determine whether two samples are perceptibly different (Peryam, 1958; Amerine et al., 1965; Meilgaard et al., 1991; Stone and Sidel, 1993). It is possible for two samples to be chemically different in formulation, but for human beings not to perceive this difference. Product developers exploit this possibility when they reformulate a product by using different ingredients while simultaneously not wanting the consumer to detect a difference. For example, an ice cream manufacturer wants to substitute the expensive vanilla flavor used in its premium vanilla ice cream with a cheaper vanilla flavor. However, the manufacturer does not want the consumer to perceive a difference in the product. A properly executed discrimination test with sufficient power to indicate that the two ice cream formulations are not perceived as different would allow the company to make the substitution with lowered risk. This is an ideal use of sensory discrimination testing. Discrimination testing may also be used when a processing change is made, a change that the processor hopes would not affect the sensory characteristics of the products. In both of these cases, the objective of the discrimination test is not to reject the null hypothesis.
Chance favors only those who know how to court her.
—Charles Nicolle, 1932
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Lawless, H.T., Heymann, H. (1999). Discrimination Testing. In: Sensory Evaluation of Food. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7843-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7843-7_4
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