Computers in Flavor and Fragrance Research - American Chemical

1 Application of Microcomputer Technology in Flavor Research Sensory Evaluation M A R K R. McLELLAN

Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on May 18, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: August 22, 1984 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1984-0261.ch001

Cornell University, Department of Food Science and Technology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N Y 14456

The advances i n m i c r o e l e c t r o n i c s have b r o u g h t us the development of powerful microcomputers. These computers can be used i n various areas of research i n c l u d i n g f l a v o r research. A review of the technology is given with specific notes on microcomputer development, design, and languages. A summary of f i n d i n g s from the d e s i g n and use o f the m i c r o c o m p u t e r as a d a t a collection tool i n sensory a n a l y s i s i s reported. Evaluations of t h i s as w e l l as other p o t e n t i a l areas of a p p l i c a t i o n i s i n c l u d e d and d i s c u s s e d as related to sensory analysis.

The microcomputer l i k e any other t o o l needs t o be d e v e l o p e d and s t u d i e d f o r i t to p e r f o r m r e l i a b l y and c o n s i s t e n t l y . Like few other tools the p o s s i b l e a p p l i c a t i o n s of microcomputers has o n l y begun to be d i s c o v e r e d . In the f i e l d of computers, the pace of development has been phenomenally r a p i d . I t has been r o u g h l y akin to going from the Wright B r o t h e r s f i r s t f l i g h t to the space s h u t t l e i n l i t t l e over ten years. Few other i n d u s t r i e s have ever matched t h i s r e l a t i v e s c a l e of development. I t i s certainly reasonable to assume t h a t , w i t h the c u r r e n t advances i n l a r g e s c a l e and u l t r a l a r g e s c a l e i n t e g r a t i o n and developments w i t h i n the semiconductor industry i n g e n e r a l , computers w i l l e v e n t u a l l y a f f e c t a l l aspects of human l i f e . 1

The d e f i n i t i o n of a microcomputer Computers i n g e n e r a l have t r a d i t i o n a l l y been d i s t i n g u i s h e d by a number of c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The two f o r e m o s t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s g e n e r a l l y c i t e d a r e , the word s i z e which the computer uses and the speed of operations performed by the computer. In any computer, the most fundamental u n i t of information i s considered the b i n a r y d i g i t , o t h e r w i s e known as a " b i t " . In 0097-6156/84/ 0261 -0001 $06.00/0 © 1984 American Chemical Society

Warren and Walradt; Computers in Flavor and Fragrance Research ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1984.


2

COMPUTERS IN FLAVOR A N D F R A G R A N C E RESEARCH

s c r i p t a b i t can be r e p r e s e n t e d as e i t h e r a n u m e r i c a l 1 or numerical 0. However, i n the a c t u a l c i r c u i t r y of the computer, t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s represented as the presence of a voltage or the absence of a v o l t a g e . T y p i c a l l y , the p r e s e n c e of a v o l t a g e i s r e p r e s e n t e d a t a +5 v o l t l e v e l . The absence of a voltage i s g e n e r a l l y considered ground p o t e n t i a l or 0 v o l t s . The p r i m a r y u n i t o f i n f o r m a t i o n i n a computer i s a group of b i t s r e f e r r e d to as a word. An 8 - b i t word i s c a l l e d a " b y t e " and t h i s can be c o n s i d e r e d a u n i v e r s a l l y used u n i t i n the computer i n d u s t r y . In the d e s i g n o f computers, any s i z e of word can be u t i l i z e d ; however, t y p i c a l l y , word s i z e s vary i n m u l t i p l e s of 8 b i t s . The speed of the computer system i s g e n e r a l l y c i t e d i n terms of the number of machine operations that are capable of o c c u r r i n g w i t h i n a c e r t a i n p e r i o d of time. Many times t h i s i s l i s t e d as the number of c y c l e s per second ( h e r t z ) that the c e n t r a l processor u n i t can operate a t . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , a main frame computer was one that operated using 32 or 64 b i t words. A minicomputer was one that u t i l i z e d a 16 b i t word and the microcomputer was one that used a 4 or 8 b i t word. However, these d i s t i n c t i o n s i n c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s a r e v e r y q u i c k l y d i s a p p e a r i n g w i t h the f u r t h e r m i n i a t u r i z a t i o n of computers, the i n c r e a s i n g speed of microprocessors, and s p e c i f i c a l l y the d e s i g n o f more p o w e r f u l m i c r o and mini computers. Many of the new microcomputers a r e f a r more p o w e r f u l and c a p a b l e t h a n what j u s t a few y e a r s ago was c o n s i d e r e d a l a r g e main frame system. The b i r t h o f t h e microcomputer can a c t u a l l y be traced back to the development of the t r a n s i s t o r . With e a r l y e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e s and computers the system of s t o r i n g d i g i t a l information was based on the use of vacuum t u b e s . These were cumbersome, expensive, and used a tremendous amount of power. They were much f a s t e r than r e l a y s , however, they were c o n s i d e r a b l y s l o w e r t h a n a n y t h i n g produced under today's standards. With the development of the t r a n s i s t o r a r e v o l u t i o n i n the design of computer systems u s h e r e d i n t h e time when systems would become smaller and more capable and l e s s c o s t l y . The t r a n s i s t o r was f a s t e r t h a n i t s p r e d e c e s s o r , the vacuum t u b e , r e q u i r e d less power and was much cheaper to develop and produce than the vacuum tube technology. As development progressed s t a r t i n g i n the l a s t 1950*8 and on i n t o the 7 0 s , a new technology d e v e l o p e d which a l l o w e d us t o b u i l d s o l i d s t a t e d e v i c e s c o n t a i n i n g s e v e r a l components a l l on the same s i l i c o n c h i p . The term f o r t h i s t e c h n o l o g y i s i n t e g r a t e d e l e c t r o n i c c i r c u i t r y ( 1 ) . The i n t e g r a t e d c i r c u i t components e s s e n t i a l l y became the f o u n d a t i o n f o r the p o c k e t c a l c u l a t o r and e v o l v e d i n t o what i s known t o d a y as t h e microcomputer. This e l e c t r o n i c development has r a p i d l y expanded t o a p o i n t where we now see the use of large s c a l e i n t e g r a t i o n and the development of u l t r a - l a r g e s c a l e i n t e g r a t i o n . This i s l e a d i n g t o h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d equipment a v a i l a b l e f o r use by f

f


1.

McLELLAN

Sensory Evaluation

1

3

t o d a y s sensory a n a l y s t ; a l l one needs t o l e a r n i s how t o communicate a p p r o p r i a t e l y with t h i s new technology.


Communications with a

microcomputer

There a r e a large number of languages that are a v a i l a b l e f o r use on microcomputers. A computer "understands" o n l y one l a n g u a g e , machine language - binary code. A l l languages, not b i n a r y , must be i n t e r p r e t e d or c o m p i l e d down t o machine l a n g u a g e , so t h a t computers can understand the i n s t r u c t i o n s . One could use binary to communicate with the computer, however, i t would be tremend o u s l y burdensome. A more usual means of communicating with the system would be u s i n g the more s o p h i s t i c a t e d o r h i g h l e v e l languages. BASIC i s p r o b a b l y one of the most p o p u l a r of a l l computer languages. I t can a l s o be c o n s i d e r e d one of the most versatile. BASIC i s an acronym that stands f o r "Beginners A l l purpose Symbolic I n s t r u c t i o n a l Code". There i s a v e r s i o n of BASIC a v a i l a b l e f o r most every computer system that i s marketed today. BASIC does have some drawbacks caused by i t s i n h e r e n t l a c k of s t r u c t u r e . I t i s o f t e n s a i d that BASIC programmers have too much freedom to be able to jump around and the r e s u l t of t h i s type of freedom i s the l a c k of consistency and tremendous comp l e x i t y i n the of d e v e l o p m e n t of s o p h i s t i c a t e d programs. FORTRAN, an acronym which stands f o r FORmular TRANslation, i s a language which can be found on many systems. This was one of the f i r s t high l e v e l languages to achieve a b a s i c s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n and wide a c c e p t a n c e . I t was m a i n l y d e s i g n e d f o r s c i e n t i f i c and m a t h e m a t i c a l use. In g e n e r a l , the e a r l y microcomputers s u p p l i e d d i d not have the memory c a p a c i t y t o r u n FORTRAN programs and t h e r e f o r e had to do with BASIC. With the development of l a r g e r memories and a b i l i t y to run compiled l a n g u a g e s , i t became poss i b l e to run FORTRAN on the smaller systems. A f t e r the w i d e s p r e a d u s e o f BASIC and FORTRAN t h e r e d e v e l o p e d a r e c o g n i z e d need to have a v a i l a b l e s t r u c t u r e d languages. A s t r u c t u r e d language i s one based on a h i e r a r c h y of o p e r a t i o n s s t a r t i n g w i t h the g e n e r a l and p r o c e e d i n g t o the specific. There has been a movement i n computer s c i e n c e towards t h e s e languages t h a t f u l l y u t i l i z e data s t r u c t u r e s and r e q u i r e users to be very s p e c i f i c i n t h e i r d e c l a r a t i o n o f a l l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s f o r a program. P a s c a l , PL/1, C, and Ada are among the languages of t h i s type and they a r e q u i c k l y r e p l a c i n g o l d e r languages f o r both s c i e n t i f i c and business computing. Structured languages, e s p e c i a l l y P a s c a l , are becoming major i n s t r u c t i o n a l languages i n computer s c i e n c e d e p a r t m e n t s . We can c e r t a i n l y expect to see these languages encroach on the domain of FORTRAN, BASIC and C0BAL as b e i n g the most important language a v a i l a b l e f o r use. The U. S. Department of Defense has decided that Ada s h a l l be the language required on a l l programming a p p l i c a t i o n s d e a l i n g w i t h the Army, Navy and A i r F o r c e i n the near f u t u r e . Ada was


4

COMPUTERS IN FLAVOR AND FRAGRANCE RESEARCH


e s s e n t i a l l y developed as a d e r i v a t i v e of Pascal and i t was named a f t e r the f i r s t computer programmer, Lady Ada Augusta Byron, daughter of the poet Lord Byron. Although we have yet to see any s e r i o u s m a r k e t i n g e f f o r t , of a f u l l y implemented microcomputer based Ada; we s h o u l d c e r t a i n l y e x p e c t t o have t h i s l a n g u a g e a v a i l a b l e on most systems i n the not too f a r f u t u r e . FORTH can be considered independent of the p r e v i o u s l y d i s cussed language or what one might consider a Fourth generation of languages. T h i s language i s b o t h a language and a computer o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m i n one. I t i s h a i l e d as a g i a n t l e a p i n f l e x i b i l i t y and c a p a b i l i t y ( 2 ) . FORTH was c r e a t e d by one man, C h a r l e s H. More and was f i r s t used to c o n t r o l the telescope a t Kipp's Peak Observatory. I t has since developed a f o l l o w i n g o f programmers and i s supported as a good process c o n t r o l language. Current A p p l i c a t i o n s i n Sensory A n a l y s i s Microcomputers as a n a l y s i s

tools

When we speak i n terms of a n a l y s i s t o o l s f o r sensory e v a l u a t i o n , g e n e r a l l y we a r e t a l k i n g about the d a t a a n a l y s i s done u s i n g various s t a t i s t i c a l methodologies. In order to a c c o m p l i s h t h i s type of t a s k one must e i t h e r turn to a preprogrammed s t a t i s t i c a l packages or e l s e do s p e c i f i c s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s w i t h i n ones own programming. There a r e now a v a i l a b l e some s m a l l s t a t i s t i c a l packages f o r m i c r o c o m p u t e r s . However, p r e d o m i n a n t l y t h e s e s t a t i s t i c a l packages have been w r i t t e n by i n d i v i d u a l s i n the f i e l d and not by major s t a t i s t i c a l s o f t w a r e v e n d o r s . With the development of systems s u p p o r t i n g l a r g e amounts of memory and s o p h i s t i c a t e d support software; the development of s e r i o u s and extensive s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s t o o l s f o r microcomputers should be f a i r l y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d . We are now s e e i n g a v e r y few s p e c i f i c s o f t w a r e packages designed f o r the sensory a n a l y s i s s c i e n t i s t to help him/her evaluate data from sensory e v a l u a t i o n s . An example of t h i s i s s o f t w a r e b e i n g d e v e l o p e d by A & Ν A s s o c i a t e s (Lansing, M i c h i g a n ) f o r v e r y s p e c i f i c s e n s o r y a n a l y s i s t e s t s i n c l u d i n g D i f f e r e n c e T e s t s , ANOVA, e t c . As we see extended development i n t h i s a r e a , we w i l l f i n d s o f t w a r e becoming more a v a i l a b l e and v e r y s p e c i a l i z e d i n t h e a r e a of support f o r the sensory a n a l y s t . In t h i s l a b o r a t o r y we a r e c u r r e n t l y i n the p r o c e s s of d e v e l o p i n g and s t u d y i n g an a p p l i c a t i o n of r a n k a n a l y s i s on microcomputers. T h i s a n a l y s i s i s s p e c i f i c a l l y designed f o r use i n the e v a l u a t i o n of m u l t i p l e r e c i p e s or m u l t i p l e sample l o t s f o r determination of p o s s i b l e rank d i f f e r e n c e s . The r e s u l t i n g output from our software package w i l l c o n s i s t of an organized l i s t i n g of j u d g e s ' r a n k i n g s , rank t o t a l s , rank order of samples based upon rank t o t a l s and s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s where noted. Once f u l l y d e v e l o p e d t h i s p i e c e of software would be a tremendous asset to those involved i n a comparison of m u l t i p l e l o t s and should a s s i s t


1.

McLELLAN

Sensory Evaluation

5

the r e s e a r c h e r i n h i s e v a l u a t i o n o f b l e n d - t o - b l e n d v a r i a t i o n s and/or raw product v a r i e t a l d i f f e r e n c e s . We hope to see f u r t h e r developments i n t h i s a r e a of s p e c i f i c software f o r support of data a n a l y s i s techniques i n sensory a n a l y s i s .


Microcomputers i n data a c q u i s i t i o n In g e n e r a l , we can speak of two s p e c i f i c types of o p e r a t i o n s u s i n g m i c r o c o m p u t e r s i n s e n s o r y a n a l y s i s as d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n t o o l s . The f i r s t would be i n a passive mode, that i s the system would be used to c o l l e c t data as entered a f t e r the a c t u a l evaluat i o n has t a k e n p l a c e and the d a t a has been c o l l e c t e d on some o t h e r f o r m , f o r example, a paper b a l l o t . In t h i s case the m i c r o c o m p u t e r i s b e i n g used as a s e c o n d a r y s o u r c e o f d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n . The primary one being the paper b a l l o t . The second mode of o p e r a t i o n would be using the microcomputer as the primary and s o l e data a c q u i s i t i o n medium. We would then be r e l y i n g upon the computer to handle not only the c o l l a t i o n and s t o r a g e of the data but a l s o the i n t e r a c t i v e means by which the a n a l y s t c o l l e c t s data from the p a n e l i s t s . The use of the microcomputer i n a passive mode can be done using any number of techniques. For example, the most common use i n t h i s type of secondary data c o l l e c t i o n phase would be manually punching i n the data i n t o the microcomputer. For a l l i n t e n t s and p u r p o s e s t h i s i s e s s e n t i a l l y equivalent to using the system as a data management system or a data a n a l y s i s system. A second form of t h i s p a s s i v e d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n would be use of the d i g i t i z e r technology. A d i g i t i z e r i s a system where d a t a i s c o l l e c t e d u s i n g a paper b a l l o t t y p e method and the microcomputer i s connected to the d i g i t i z e r which i s then used to reproduce the d a t a from the paper b a l l o t i n t o a d i g i t a l format as c o l l e c t e d by the digitizer. The d i g i t i z e r i t s e l f i s e s s e n t i a l l y an e l e c t r o n i c s t y l u s connected to s p e c i a l i z e d g r i d network. The g r i d network acts as a p l a t f o r m where the paper b a l l o t i s p l a c e d , then the stylus i s u s e d to s i m p l y touch the paper o v e r each of the premarked points and the g r i d network underneath the paper i d e n t i f i e s where the s t y l u s i s t o u c h i n g and what that p a r t i c u l a r d i g i t i z e d x, y p o i n t i s . A s i g n i f i c a n t amount of s o f t w a r e i s r e q u i r e d t o d r i v e t h i s type of system and to i d e n t i f y the a c t u a l data p o i n t s f o r what they are. A n o t h e r type of p a s s i v e system has been suggested using automated c a r d r e a d i n g d e v i c e s ( 3 ) . In t h i s case a c a r d i s d e s i g n e d t o emulate as c l o s e as p o s s i b l e the type of sensory e v a l u a t i o n s c a l e r e q u i r e d f o r the p a r t i c u l a r s t u d y . The s c a l e must be denoted i n the form of i n d i v i d u a l marks. Each mark can be read, by the microcomputer using the c a r d r e a d e r . The t e c h nique i s very quick. I t can be automated f a i r l y e a s i l y and i t has been u t i l i z e d f o r a number of d i f f e r e n t types o f s c a l e s and tests. A l t h o u g h we see i t b e i n g a p p l i e d i n e v e r y t h i n g from d i f f e r e n c e t e s t s to q u a n t i t a t i v e d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s , t h e r e may



6

COMPUTERS IN FLAVOR AND FRAGRANCE

RESEARCH

be some b i a s e s and problems b u i l t i n when u s i n g t h i s type of marking system f o r a continuous and semi-continuous s c a l e such as t h o s e used f o r the q u a n t i t a t i v e d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s . The s c a l e emulation i s done by having a whole s e r i e s of c i r c l e s forming the continuous l i n e . The p a r t i c u l a r c i r c l e of i n t e r e s t r e f l e c t i n g the p o i n t of i n t e r e s t on the s c a l e must be darkened by a p e n c i l and then that point i s read by the card reader. Biases may a r i s e by having d i s c r e t e p o i n t s on a l i n e as opposed t o a f u l l y continuous s c a l e or l i n e . The second form of u s i n g the m i c r o c o m p u t e r as a d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n t o o l takes the form of an a c t i v e or what we c a l l " r e a l time" data a c q u i s i t i o n . By r e a l - t i m e we mean use of the computer for d a t a c o l l e c t i o n d u r i n g t h e a c t u a l e v a l u a t i o n by the panelists. The p a n e l i s t s would t h e n i n t e r a c t u s i n g v a r i o u s methods with the computer g i v i n g r e s u l t s to the computer based on sensory perceptions of the samples. Thus f a r there have been two proposed systems f o r t h i s type of i n t e r a c t i v e use. The two modes a v a i l a b l e f o r t h i s r e a l time d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n would be 1) a modified d i g i t i z i n g technique and 2) a d i r e c t data entry technique. In the d i g i t i z i n g system the d i g i t i z e r would be b u i l t i n t o a sensory panel booth. The p a r t i c u l a r b a l l o t would s t i l l be made up i n the form of a paper b a l l o t and p l a c e d on the e l e c t r o n i c g r i d p a l l e t and t h e n the p a n e l i s t would e v a l u a t e h i s or h e r samples and d i r e c t l y mark the paper b a l l o t using the e l e c t r o n i c s t y l u s that i s located i n the booth. Concurrently the computer would m o n i t o r the data input from the d i g i t i z e r and c o l l e c t the appropriate responses. T h i s a p p l i c a t i o n appears t o be v e r y successful. There might be considered a number of drawbacks to i t i n that i t r e q u i r e s a f a i r l y heavy i n v e s t m e n t i n hardware, t h a t b e i n g the d i g i t i z i n g equipment as w e l l as a s o p h i s t i c a t e d enough system to c o n t r o l t h i s hardware. I t s t i l l i n v o l v e s the use of paper b a l l o t s , however, i n general i t i s a v a s t improvement over t r a d i t i o n a l techniques of d a t a c o l l e c t i o n i n s e n s o r y evaluation. Under the second type of r e a l time data a c q u i s i t i o n , we have d i r e c t e n t r y methods where e s s e n t i a l l y you are i n c o r p o r a t i n g an a c t u a l terminal i n t o the sensory e v a l u a t i o n booth i t s e l f . The e l e c t r o n i c t e r m i n a l would i n c l u d e a data entry keyboard as w e l l as a d i s p l a y screen f o r r e c e i v i n g r e s u l t s and prompts from the m i c r o c o m p u t e r ( 4 ) . T h i s t e c h n i q u e has been developed i n our l a b o r a t o r i e s and we f e e l t h a t i t h o l d s tremendous promise i n terms of the v e r s a t i l i t y and the v i a b i l i t y f o r expanding i n t o d i f f e r e n t areas of sensory e v a l u a t i o n . Under t h i s t y p e of t e c h n i q u e , the system f l a s h e d on the d i s p l a y the various questions and s c a l e s f o r use by the p a n e l i s t to e n t e r h i s d a t a on. In the prototype that we developed, the software must be programmed f o r the p a r t i c u l a r type of t e s t ahead of t i m e . A p a n e l i s t entered the booth with the samples already



1.

McLELLAN

Sensory Evaluation

7

i n place and logged onto the computer system. The l o g on p r o c e dure i s f a i r l y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d where the p a n e l i s t enters h i s or h e r own name and t h e m i c r o c o m p u t e r would come back w i t h t h e response to the person a f t e r having checked a small data base f o r p a n e l i s t name v e r i f i c a t i o n . The m i c r o c o m p u t e r then randomized the order of the samples that were i n f r o n t of the p a n e l i s t . The p a n e l i s t then responded t o t h e q u e s t i o n s f o r each sample and upon f i n i s h i n g the questions f o r each of the samples the p a n e l i s t was t o l d that he was done. The data was then stored i n a s p e c i a l f i l e f o r t h e purpose o f t r a n s f e r t o another computer f o r data a n a l y s i s or stored f o r a l a t e r a n a l y s i s on t h e same system c o l l e c t i n g the data. The time savings alone based upon t h i s system i s enough t o warrant f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n . Based upon a t y p i c a l q u a n t i t a t i v e d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s panel c o n s i s t i n g of 18 panels each e v a l u a t ing 3 samples w i t h 20 q u e s t i o n s the time savings over s t r i c t l y manual methods was approximately 4-5 hours. Compared to d i g i t i z ing t h e raw data the time savings was approximately an hour. We f e e l that t h i s type of d i r e c t entry system w i l l o f f e r a tremendous advantage over most o t h e r systems i n terms of c a p a b i l i t y , v e r s a t i l i t y and the development o f new a p p l i c a t i o n s as w e l l as extensive time savings. Future A p p l i c a t i o n s The f u t u r e a p p l i c a t i o n s can g e n e r a l l y b r e a k down i n t o two specific categories. The f i r s t i s d a t a a n a l y s i s by m i c r o c o m p u t e r s . With the increased power of the new systems and extended memory c a p a b i l i t i e s ; we w i l l see t h e development and a p p l i c a t i o n of v e r s i o n s of the t r a d i t i o n a l l a r g e s t a t i s t i c a l packages a v a i l a b l e f o r use on t h e s m a l l s y s t e m s . With the d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e s e p a c k a g e s we w i l l h a v e a tremendous c a p a b i l i t y of doing very extensive data a n a l y s i s using microcomp u t e r systems. Desk top computers w i l l not be simply be thought of as a personal data base type machine b u t r a t h e r as a major s t a t i s t i c a l t o o l t h a t can h a n d l e tremendous q u a n t i t i e s of data doing h i g h l y s p e c i f i c and h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d data a n a l y s i s and interpretation. The second area of p r o g r e s s i v e development w i l l be i n t h e a r e a of v e r y s p e c i a l i z e d data c o l l e c t i o n mediums. We foresee a major extension i n the area of d i r e c t data i n p u t u s i n g i n t e r a c t i v e v i d e o terminals b u i l t w i t h i n the sensory e v a l u a t i o n booths. Although t h i s w i l l take a f a i r l y e x t e n s i v e development i n t h e a r e a of software, the gains to be reaped by the development w i l l f a r exceed the development c o s t s i t s e l f . A l a r g e a r e a of r e s e a r c h has y e t t o be c o n d u c t e d c o n c e r n i n g t h e a p p l i c a t i o n of microcomputers i n sensory a n a l y s i s as a d a t a c o l l e c t i o n t o o l . S t u d i e s o f i n h e r e n t b i a s , e f f e c t s on response freedom e t c . w i l l have to be undertaken i n order to p r o p e r l y evaluate the computer as a data a c q u i s i t i o n t o o l . Biases based on the way the software


8

C O M P U T E R S IN F L A V O R A N D F R A G R A N C E

RESEARCH


i s designed c o u l d be v e r y e a s i l y i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o a s e n s o r y p r o j e c t w i t h o u t knowledge by the p r i n c i p l e i n v e s t i g a t o r . These type of things should be s t u d i e d and the p e o p l e i n v o l v e d i n t h e development of t h i s type of software made aware of i t . We a l s o f e e l t h e r e i s room f o r e x t e n s i v e t e s t i n g and r e search i n new areas a s s o c i a t e d with t h i s type of technology. For example, time dependent measurements may be important f o r various types of sensory e v a l u a t i o n . P r e v i o u s l y , to achieve time dependent measurements was a tremendously exhaustive chore and may n o t have been able to be made using normal t a s t e panel procedures and environments. With t h i s type of a p p l i c a t i o n of microcomputers i n s e n s o r y e v a l u a t i o n we foresee the use of time dependent measurements as a new area of p o s s i b l e development. Literature Cited 1. 2. 3. 4.

Waite, M.; Pardu, M. "Microcomputer Primer"; Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc.; I n d i a n a p o l i s , Indiana, 1977. Dessy, R. E.; S t a r l i n g , M. K. Am. Lab. 1980, 12(2), 21. Van de V o o r t , F. R.; Miller, H.; A s t o n , G. C. Can. I n s t . Food Sci. Tech. J . 1981, 14(3), 173. McLellan, M. R. Food Tech. 1983, 31(1), 97.

R E C E I V E D A p r i l 27, 1984


Computers in Flavor and Fragrance Research - American Chemical

Recommend Documents