Patent ID: 7577530
Filing Date: 2009-08-18
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of analyzing a product having organoleptic characteristics in order to characterize, distinguish, and/or modify the product by analyzing the responses of a panel of testers to certain descriptors, the method comprising the steps of: a) selecting descriptors that are pertinent a priori for determining the organoleptic characteristics of the product; b) selecting a response mode selected from the group consisting of an on/off binary mode, a continuous mode over a range of values, and a discrete mode over a range of values; c) providing all of the descriptors simultaneously to the panel of testers for a determined duration in a measurement interface presenting a center and an input zone for each descriptor, the input zones being distributed uniformly over at least a section of at least one conic about the center of the interface in a relative arrangement, locations of the input zones being determined without regard to any particular sequence or order of appearance so that the testers are not influenced by the order in which the descriptors appear; d) collecting the responses from each tester as a function of the selected response mode, said responses being without influence by the order in which the descriptors appear; e) recording the responses; f) determining a result set of organoleptic characteristics describing the product by implementing a computer configured to apply at least one statistical method to the responses and g) providing a record of the result set of organoleptic characteristics in a user readable format.