Senior Consumers Involvement in Developing New Fish-Based Foods Through Sequential Hedonic Tests

Older population needs specific food, adequate to age and health requirements, and acceptable from the sensory point of view. To develop functional products the involvement of senior assessors was experimented. A panel of 35 seniors evaluated fish-burgers and fish-sausages through sensory tests adapted to their cognitive capacities. A model of sequential discrimination, ranking and tetrad tests, was applied with the aim to define the shape (burger vs. sausage), the species and relative percentage of fish, the addition of vegetables, and the presence of potato. The panel indicated a preference for sausage, while ranking tests indicated tuna alone or with mackerel to be preferred. The addition of tomato and artichoke improved acceptance. The acceptance scores showed that progressive discrimination tests successfully supported the development products. This study focusing on age related sensory perception, demonstrated how elderly are able to perform not only simple paired comparisons, but also more demanding ranking tests. There are mainly two practical applications in this work: a methodological one and an applicative one. The methodological is related to the evidence that quite complex and up to date sensory studies, if well structured, can be correctly executed by elder consumers. The applicative output is a preliminary recipe of healthy food for elder people that can be used as milestone in future studies.