How to implement organoleptic quality assessment in a participatory plant breeding approach

Summary

Sensory quality is a great expectation from consumer and more specifically from the new organic consumer (post food crisis) which is more interested in the practical aspect than the environmental ones (Zanoli et al.). Whereas some objectives’ quality parameters can be measured by instrument (firmness, maturity, acidity…), sensory quality measurement need to analyse human perception. In the context of the European project SOLIBAM, a new methodology is experimented to integrate gustatory criterion in the breeding process, and particularly in participatory plant breeding programs. This methodology called “Napping®” involves a panel of professionals of the product (breeders, bakers, farmers), who have to position the product onto a large sheet of paper according to the sensory distance (similarity/dissimilarity) he perceives between the products. Ones the panellist had position its products; he had to associate one or two descriptors to each product. This poster aims to illustrate the methodology with an example on breads.