THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY
AND DESCRIPTIVE SENSORY ATTRIBUTES
IN CHEDDAR CHEESE*
E.L. CASPIA
1
, P.C. COGGINS
1,2
, M.W. SCHILLING
1
, Y. YOON
1
and
C.H. WHITE
1
1
Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Accepted for publication November 8, 2005
ABSTRACT
The relationship between the consumer acceptability of Cheddar cheese
and its descriptive sensory attributes was determined using preference
mapping and logistic regression for three Cheddar cheeses. A trained panel
(n = 9) differentiated the cheeses based on taste, aroma and textural attributes.
The overall order of consumer preference (P Ͻ 0.05) for the three cheeses was
9, 7 and 12 months of aging time, respectively. The trained panel characterized
the 7- and 9-month-old cheeses as having young/undeveloped flavors such
as “cooked,” “buttery” and “creamy” flavors, and had volatiles that were
responsible for the creamy flavor in cheeses. The 12-month-old cheese was
characterized by aged/developed flavors and included volatile compounds
responsible for fruity aromas and sulfurous, earthy and free fatty acid flavors.

neous nature of milk predisposes its derived products, such as cheese, to a
complex biochemical process in which three major catabolic pathways –
glycolysis, lipolysis and proteolysis – are involved (McSweeney and Sousa
2000). As a result, new flavor compounds are produced with each reaction.
Flavor variations are also closely linked to the manufacturing process starting
with the quality of the milk, and the aging and maturation conditions.
At 6–8 months of age, Cheddar cheese develops most of its flavor, and
a full Cheddar cheese flavor is generally developed after 1 year of ripening.
The use of a sensory language for Cheddar cheese is important for research
and marketing purposes, and although validated flavor lexicons for Cheddar
cheese exist (Drake et al. 2001), a variation of references and terms some-
times is needed to best fit with the sensory characteristics of specific Cheddar
cheeses.
Both logistic regression and preference mapping may be useful in
explaining the relationship between consumer acceptability, trained descrip-
tive analysis and flavor chemistry. Logistic regression is a unique way to link
explanatory variables to discrete response ones (Hosmer and Lemeshow
2000). Logistic regression is very similar to multiple linear regression. The
only major difference in the analyses is the nature of the response variable. In
multiple linear regression, the response is a continuous variable, while in
logistic regression, the response is a categorical/discrete one. This analysis has
vast applications and is underutilized in sensory experimentation, but it has
shown merit in explaining consumer acceptability of tenderness in chicken
breasts (Schilling et al. 2003). Such statistical modeling may be useful in
determining the consumer acceptability of Cheddar cheese, and its usefulness
in explaining consumer acceptability should be compared to preference
mapping because it is the method most frequently used to relate consumer
acceptability data to descriptive sensory attributes. The objectives of this study
were to determine how descriptive attributes including taste, aroma and tex-
tural attributes in commonly consumed Cheddar cheeses as well as volatile

unsalted crackers (Premium, Nabisco, NJ), water (Mountain Spring Water,
Blue Ridge, GA) and expectoration cups to cleanse their palate between
samples. Testing was conducted at the same time every day.
References were prepared according to the spectrum intensity scale
values of the four basic tastes or intensity references (Meilgaard et al. 1991).
Flavor terms and references were obtained from standards selected to refer-
ence terms of Cheddar cheese flavor language (Murray and Delahunty 2000)
and the Cheddar cheese lexicon (Drake et al. 2001). Some of the reference
terms, definitions and food references from these lexicons were screened
and modified by the panel during the training sessions for suitability with the
114 E.L. CASPIA ET AL.
cheese analyzed. Flavor terms of the Cheddar cheese lexicon consist of 17
terms, some of which were modified such as the case of the terms “diacetyl”
and “milkfat,” which were replaced by “buttery” and “creamy,” respectively, as
used by Murray and Delahunty (2000). Spectrum references were also used for
panelist training for aroma and textural attributes.
After the training period, the panel, without access to references, evalu-
ated three samples of Cheddar cheese, one for each ripening period for 3 days.
This analysis was performed in triplicate during three consecutive months. The
presentation of the sample was the same as for each of the training sessions.
Each plate had a three-digit random number. The panelists were provided with
unsalted crackers and ambient temperature spring water (Mountain Spring
Water) for cleansing the palate. The panelists evaluated the cheese samples in
an odor-free room dedicated to sensory analysis.
Consumer Acceptability
Consumer acceptability was evaluated in three consecutive months, each
within 2 weeks of the cheese descriptive evaluation by the trained panel. The
consumers (n = 140) evaluated the three cheeses in individual booths illumi-
nated with white lighting. The samples were assigned with three-digit random
numbers and served under identical conditions to the trained descriptive

temperature. To obtain the retention indexes of the different compounds,
0.5 mL of alkane standards (C
11
–C
25
) was injected into the GC with the same
program conditions, and volatile compounds were identified using Flavor Net
(Acree and Arn 2004).
Statistical Analyses
A randomized complete block design with three replications was used to
determine differences among the descriptive attributes (P Ͻ 0.05) for the
Cheddar cheese treatments for flavor, aroma and textural attributes. Least
significant difference test was used to separate means when differences
occurred. The descriptive data were further analyzed using principal compo-
nent analysis (PCA, SAS 8.1, Cary, NC) (SAS Institute, Inc. 1999) to differ-
entiate among Cheddar cheese treatments.
A randomized complete block design with three replications was used to
analyze the effects of three different ripening periods of Cheddar cheese on
consumer acceptability. Agglomerate hierarchical clustering was performed to
cluster consumers together based on their liking of Cheddar cheese. Both
external preference mapping and logistic regression were conducted on the
descriptive attribute data and the consumer acceptability scores to determine
the relationship between sensory attributes and consumer preference. This
analysis was performed on nine products (three treatments replicated thrice to
make preference mapping and PCA possible).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Descriptive Analysis
Flavor. The descriptive flavor attribute intensity means (n = 9) for 7-, 9-
and 12-month Cheddar cheeses are listed in Table 1. Taste attributes such as
whey, brothy, nutty, cowy, yeasty, earthy and salty were not significantly

a
1.6
a
1.1
b
Buttery 1.4
b
2.2
a
1.1
b
Creamy 0.9
b
1.4
a
0.7
b
Sulfur 3.7
b
3.0
c
5.8
a
Free fatty acid 2.6
b
2.1
b
4.1
a
Brothy 1.4

b
1.5
c
3.5
a
Prickle/bite 1.9
a
1.1
b
2.3
a
Bitter 3.1
b
1.8
c
4.1
a
Salty 2.8
a
2.9
a
2.9
a
Sweet 0.4
b
0.9
a
0.5
b
Sour 2.9