Q. Introduction of Quality Attributes of Food?

Seasonal fruits and vegetables are grown in plenty, and are available in their respective seasons in abundance. While choosing these fruits/vegetables what are the factors that we look in for? Yes, colour, wholesomeness, gloss, degree of ripeness, smell, taste, textured defects etc. are some of the factors on the basis of which we select or choose an item. These factors in sum can be thought of as "quality". Quality has been defined as a ‘degree of excellence and includes such things as taste, appearance and nutritional content. It is the composite of characteristics that have significance and which help in making the product acceptable.

When we select foods and when we eat, we use all our physical senses, including sight, touch, smell, taste and even hearing. When the quality of a food product is assessed by means of human sensory organs, the evaluation is said to be ‘sensory' or ‘subjective' or ‘organoleptic'. Sensory quality is a combination of different senses of perception coming into play in choosing and eating a food.

Each time a food is eaten, a judgement is made. A wide range of vocabulary is used to describe sensory characteristics of food products, such as odour, taste, appearance, texture.