Table 2.
Sensory attributes, definition, and scale anchors for meat analogues (scale 0–10).
| Attribute | Definition | Scale Anchors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Color | Perceived color tone | 0—brown; 3.5—yellow; 6.5—green; 10—grey |
| Fibrousness | Number of fibers perceived in the sample | 0—not fibrous; 10—very fibrous | |
| Odor | Overall intensity * | Overall odor intensity of the sample | 0—not perceived odor; 3—boiled chicken meat (overall); 7—boiled pork meat (overall); 10—very intense odor |
| Meat-like ** | Perceived similarities with meat | 0— not resembling meat; 10—very similar to meat (boiled pork/chicken) | |
| Cereals | Association with cereals | 0—none; 2—very mild; 4—mild; 6—moderate; 8—intense; 10—very intense | |
| Legumes | Association with legumes | ||
| Sweetness | Association with caramel/sugar | ||
| Off-odor intensity | Non-characteristic odors (chemical, rancid, metallic, etc.) | ||
| Taste | Overall intensity * | Overall taste intensity of the sample | 0—not perceived taste; 10—very intense taste (5—boiled pork/chicken) |
| Cereals | Association with cereals | 0—none; 2—very mild; 4—mild; 6—moderate; 8—intense; 10—very intense | |
| Legumes | Association with legumes | ||
| Saltiness | Association with sodium chloride | ||
| Sweetness | Association with sucrose | ||
| Umami | Association with glutamate | ||
| Bitterness | Association with caffeine | ||
| Astringent | Puckering sensation in mouth/tongue | ||
| Off-taste intensity | Non-characteristic tastes (chemical, rancid, metallic, etc.) | ||
| Aftertaste intensity | Intensity 5 s after swallowing the sample | ||
| Texture | Springiness | Rate to which the sample recovers to its initial condition after pressing it with fingers | 0—not recovering; 3—recovers slightly (boiled pork); 10—recovers completely (gummy candy) |
| Hardness | The force required to compress the sample using teeth | 0—easily compressible; 8—hardly compressible (boiled pork); 10—not compressible | |
| Cohesiveness | The amount of sample that holds together during chewing rather than rupturing | 0—sample completely ruptured (halva §); 9—very cohesive (boiled pork); 10—sample holds together completely | |
| Chewiness | Effort required to chew the sample until it can be swallowed | 0—no chews needed for masticating food (liquid-like); 8—moderately hard to chew (boiled pork); 10—requires lot of chews to masticate food | |
| Moisture | Amount of water in the sample released during 5 chews | 0—completely dry; 1—very dry (halva §); 10—very moist | |
| Graininess | Amount of particles released during 5 chews | 0—no particles perceived; 5—moderately grainy (halva §) 10—very grainy, gritty mouthfeel |
§ Halva: very friable and dry sweet confection (dense dry paste made of nuts and sugar). * overall intensity represents the intensity of the whole odor profile regardless of the type of the odor. ** Finding similar nuances either to pork meat or chicken meat means already that the sample has meat-like odor.