Estimation of “koku”-related taste sensory words for meat using questionnaire to consumers and cooking workers

Abstract

“Koku” is a Japanese word that is sometimes used when evaluating the sensory characteristics of meat. However, the perception of “koku” is affected by multiple sensory stimulations, making an investigation of “koku”-related sensory traits important for assessing the “koku” sensation of meat. To investigate this, we conducted a Web questionnaire on consumers and cooking workers. First, 43 meat dish names were presented to 300 consumers and 100 cooking workers, and they selected meat dishes which are better to have “koku.” As a result, 9 meat dishes were selected as the meat dishes which are better to have “koku.” After that, 500 consumers and 200 cooking workers selected the all taste sensory words which match the sensory characteristics of 9 meat dishes from 38 words. In the logit model analysis, we estimated the probability that each word will be selected in nine meat dishes. These values were subjected to principal component analysis, and “koku”-related sensory words were identified. This resulted in “sweet,” “horo-amai,” “honnori-amai,” “soy source flavor,” “atsumi-no-aru-aji,” “aftertaste,” “nohkoh,” “mattari,” “umami,” “fat taste,” and “shitsukoi” being estimated as “koku”-related sensory words in meat dishes.