“Cata” method for the descriptive evaluation of chocolates with untrained evaluators

Abstract

The “Check all that apply” method consists of a versatile multiple-choice question in which respondents are presented with a list of words or phrases and asked to select as many options as they consider appropriate. It is a rapid description technique, which has been successfully used to describe a wide variety of products, many with untrained consumers, allowing the training time and costs involved in the training and maintenance of a trained evaluators group to be minimized. The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of the “Mark all that apply” method with consumers in the evaluation of chocolate samples, based on the comparison with the description obtained with trained tasters. Using both methods, similar descriptors were obtained; a difference was clearly seen between the samples evaluated; one with a greater dairy flavor, fatty perception, creaminess and softness. Another astringent, with greater bitterness, a marked flavor and smell of cocoa/chocolate, bright and dark. One of them, totally different, fragile, sweet, rough, soft and dull. The two-dimensional spaces generated by the statistical processing of both methods have a great similarity, with an RV vector correlation coefficient of 0.86, obtained by the procrustes analysis applied to the matrix constructed with both configurations. The CATA method provided a good semantic richness and regarding the practical aspect the method is fast, simple and easy to understand by the evaluators.