Sensory perception of Brazilian petit suisse cheese by a consumer panel using three-way internal and external preference maps

Abstract

This paper aims to study the sensory perception of Brazilian petit suisse cheese. Physicohemical (total sugar, total acidity, moisture, L*, a*, b* and soluble solids) physical (texture profile analysis- hardness, cohesiveness and gumminess) and sensory (color, appearance, taste, consistency and overall liking) analyses were performed. Three-way internal and external preference maps were used to evaluate the sensory profile of five different brands of strawberry flavor petit suisse (the only differences between them were the hydrocolloid bulking agents added) correlating with physical and physicochemical parameters. For this, the sisvar and sensoMaker software were used. According to the results, there is variation in the formulations of the petit suisse cheeses that are currently marketed in Brazil, with the exception of total acidity, moisture, and luminosity. Furtherore, Brazilian consumers prefer petit suisse cheese that has intermediate sweetness (7.67 °Bx to 11.67 °Bx) and reject those that are very sweet. In addition, products made with gelatin, pectin and locust bean and guar gums are more accepted.