Commercial characterization of madalenas: Relationship between physical and sensory parameters.

MICAELA URETA; DANIELA OLIVERA; VIVIANA SALVADORI

Atenas

Congreso; 11 International Congress on Engineering and Food; 2011

The ability to produce high quality processed foods is essential in order to compete in a market were consumers have exigent requests. In baking industry, different aspects, apart from baking operative conditions, contribute to the product quality and induce consumer?s acceptance. Among others, the change in volume and shape, color, texture and flavor can be mentioned. Madalenas, very common in Argentina for breakfast or at tea time, are included within the general definition of sweet baked products. They have a particular taste and shape, similar to that of a small cake, with a formulation that basically consists of eggs, sugar, butter, flour and yeast. The objective of the present work was to analyze the physical and sensory quality of commercial madalenas with the purpose of obtaining relationships between consumer?s preference and physical parameters. Four different trademarks of madalenas (MC1, MC2, MC3 y MC4), normally encountered in Argentinean food stores, were used in this study. The instrumental analysis consisted in: texture characterization, water content and water activity, porosity, color, and global and crumb density. The sensory characteristics of madalenas were measured by an untrained panel of 35 consumers using the acceptance test. A good correlation between structural parameters (density), and textural (firmness) was found. This is, the greater the density, the more firmness the sample showed. Results obtained from sensory analysis showed dependence between acceptability of the product and porosity, crumb density and firmness, with a higher preference for products more porous and less firm. Although TPA is an excellent test for texture analysis in many kind of food, in this case, it didn?t reveal significant differences between samples. On the other hand, important differences between samples were found when color was evaluated, which contributed to characterize each trademark.