Searching for a sensory vocabulary for Swedish vegetables : an exploratory study of the flavour and aroma characteristics of carrot, cabbage and onion

Sammanfattning: Flavour is an important aspect in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. However, the current regulatory context within EU for the quality of fruit and vegetables involve standards that lay primary emphasis on visual properties but limited focus on flavour and nutrition. Despite its importance to consumers, the flavour aspect of quality is commonly overlooked. The limited availability and use of a vocabulary hinder a consensus concerning flavour quality within the supply chain as well as to consumers. The present thesis presents the outcomes of the project A culinary roadmap to Swedish vegetables. The project was initiated by top chef Daniel Berlin by reason of his experienced challenges to find exceptional and consistent flavour quality in local horticultural products and communicating this aspect of quality with colleagues and suppliers. A sensory language for fruits and vegetables could be a helpful tool to describe flavour variations. By identifying variations in flavour, the chance to attain customer satisfaction as well as contribute to a consensus within the supply chain may be increased. The main objectives of the present thesis were to a) examine the flavour and aroma characteristics of cultivars of vegetables which are commonly used in restaurant cuisines, being carrot, cabbage and onion and b) investigate whether consensus can be obtained by a sensory panel with limited training, on the characteristics of the chosen vegetables. Achieving consensus indicates that the perceptions by the panel could act as a guidance of the sensory descriptions. Using a descriptive sensory method, the characteristics and differences in flavour and aroma of heat-treated varieties of carrot, cabbage and onion were examined. Previous studies indicate that the genetic material is one of the most decisive factors for sensory characteristics, which motivated the current study to explore the differences between varieties of vegetables. The samples were cooked through sous vide technique, which is commonly used in restaurant kitchens. Cooking instructions were given by a chef at the restaurant of Daniel Berlin. This study demonstrated that the chosen method was successful in generating sensory attributes describing flavour and aroma. The results show significant variations in characteristics such as sweetness, nuttiness, perfuminess and fruitiness in cultivars of carrot and within bitterness, freshness, fruitiness in the cultivars of cabbage. Between onion cultivars prominent variations appeared within the characteristics of sweetness, bitterness, freshness, pungency, sulfurous flavour and aftertaste. The key outcome of the study is that significant variations within a part of the attributes in the evaluation was found. This in turn suggests that the perceptions within the panel were partly similar, which in turn implies that a partly consensus was achieved. The common perceptions by the panel on the sensory attributes implies that there is potential for developing a sensory vocabulary for these vegetables.