Foods have specific nutritional properties. Some of these properties can be captured through our senses. Thus, the color, taste, odor and texture of a substance provide relevant information about its characteristics as a food. This type of property is known as organoleptic. Organoleptic Properties
The information received by food through the senses allows us to know if something is edible or in good condition.
The color
The perception of food color is an indicator of its chemical composition and state
The red color communicates that a food has a high content of lycopene, a substance that can be found in tomatoes, watermelon or strawberries. The color orange and yellow indicate that a food has a high content of beta-carotene, as happens with orange, carrot and peach. Green is an indicator of chlorophyll like broccoli, lettuce and spinach.
The flavor
The taste of a food comes from the chemical reactions of our taste buds located on the tongue, although the sense of smell also participates in the taste. Organoleptic Properties
The taste sensation causes physiological defense reactions in the body. There are four different flavors: sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Each of them is detected in a specific part of the language.
the odor
Food odor occurs because of a complex mixture of gases, vapors and dust.
Thus, the composition of the mixture determines the odor perceived by the receiver. It should be noted that the nose is capable of perceiving more than 10,000 different aromas. There are all kinds of aromas: fragrant, burning, sulfurous, sweet, ethereal, stale, oily or metallic. Organoleptic Properties
the texture
Each variety of food has a certain elasticity and consistency. Organoleptic Properties
Currently these attributes can be measured using a texturometer. With this type of measurement it is possible to establish the differences between two similar foods, for example, between a hard cheese and a semi-hard one.
Sensory analysis of wine
In an analysis of a wine, several senses are used to analyze its phases. In the visual phase, the type of tone that exists in each wine is observed. In the olfactory phase, the characteristic aroma of each grape variety and its level of fermentation can be perceived . In the taste phase, one tries to capture its degree of acidity or bitterness. Organoleptic Properties