Evaluation of the sensorial quality of tropical dehydrated fruits

Food dehydration is a simple, accessible technique which reduces post harvesting losses. For that reason the objective of this research was to evaluate the sensorial quality of some dehydrated fruits (papaya, star fruit and cashew apple) using a diversified population based in perceptive differences and the intensity of some of their attributes. A sensorial panel was gathered and a preference-acceptance test with a nine-point hedonic scale and organoleptic characteristic evaluation was designed. Eleven groups with five non trained panelists were used. A variance analysis with Tukey post-hoc test was done. The results showed no significant differences for the variable panelist, neither food-panelist interaction, but it was significantly different in food source when was related with taste, texture and chewiness. This evidences contrasts in tastes and preferences due to the diversified panel usage.