Four Minutes Read
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Many people especially those with minimal scientific background muddle at the word ‘science’ attached to any word. The layman already regards science as a confusing subject area enough and want no part in further confusion. Sensory science has been no exception and what is more, this science tends to confuse even people with scientific backgrounds. Sensory science might seem too complicated and bizarre until you get to understand how simple it can be. We promise to demystify sensory science in this piece.
We all engage in this science unknowingly in our daily activities even at home. For example, when cooking for the whole family, you know how your family prefer their food to taste like. Hence when preparing the meal, you taste it occasionally to ensure that the food tastes like how your family wants it. By that small action, you just incorporated sensory science. Also, when you smell the aroma of food from the kitchen as you sit in the living room and can identify what is cooking even before you see the food, you just engaged in sensory science. This is because you took the aroma of the food and compared it to similar aromas that you have perceived before in order to tell the exact food being prepared.
Sensory science is a scientific method used to evoke, measure, analyse and interpret reactions to the characteristics of sensations as they are perceived by the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. In simple terms, applying any of the five senses in making decisions about choices is practicing sensory science. Sensory science applications in our homes is not only limited to tasting food and cooking in the kitchen. It spans to choosing our favourite perfume brands, toothbrushes, combs, hairbrushes, cosmetics, and toiletries among others.
The five human senses
How your body responds to certain materials is very important as an end- user. Hence, you keep in memory those items that had a lasting or positive impact on you. For example, if you are the type that likes to experiment with your cosmetics, you always keep in memory the ones that had a lasting (positive or negative) impression on you. Another example is choosing perfumes. Humans like to try and test new fragrances until they discover the one they like or receive the most compliments on. You keep a profile of different perfume scents in your memory and choose your favourite based on the one that ranks highest in-terms of preferred aroma or scent.
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In a nutshell, provided any of the five senses are being applied and there is some form of memory storage, analyses and interpretation of what you perceive to take a decision about an item or even an experience, then you are applying sensory science.
Methods that are more sophisticated enable panellist (people who have been particularly selected) to perform sensory tests in a sensory evaluation laboratory and even in their homes. Thanks to COVID-19, many sensory tests are being done at home.
UG SENLAB has the capacity to perform all sensory tests including Home Use Tests (HUT). Visit our website or contact us on our various social media platforms to learn more and how we can be of help.