Correlation between olfactory function, age, sex, and cognitive reserve index in the Italian population.

PURPOSE: Loss of smell decreases the quality of life and contributes to the failure in recognizing hazardous substances. Given the relevance of olfaction in daily life, it is important to recognize an undiagnosed olfactory dysfunction to prevent these possible complications. Up to now, the prevalence of smell disorders in Italy is unknown due to a lack of epidemiological studies. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in a sample of Italian adults. METHODS: Six hundred and thirty-three participants (347 woman and 286 men; mean age 44.9 years, SD 17.3, age range 18-86) were recruited from 10 distinct Italian regions. Participants were recruited using a convenience sapling and were divided into six different age groups: 18-29 years (N = 157), 30-39 years (N = 129), 40-49 years (N = 99), 50-59 years (N = 106), > 60 years (N = 142). Olfactory function, cognitive abilities, cognitive reserve, and depression were assessed, respectively, with: Sniffin' Sticks 16-item Odor Identification Test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Cognitive Reserve Index, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Additionally, socio-demographic data, medical history, and health-related lifestyle information were collected. RESULTS: About 27% of participants showed an odor identification score < 12 indicating hyposmia. Multiple regression analysis revealed that OI was significantly correlated with age, sex, and cognitive reserve index, and young women with high cognitive reserve index showing the highest olfactory scores. CONCLUSION: This study provides data on the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in different Italian regions.

Remote testing: Sensory test during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

Restrictions adopted by many countries in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic had severe consequences on the management of sensory and consumer testing that strengthened the tendency to move data collection out of the laboratory. Remote sensory testing, organized at the assessor's home or workplace and carried out under the live online supervision of the panel leader, represents a trade-off between adequate control and the convenience of conducting testing out of the lab. The Italian Sensory Science Society developed the "Remote sensory testing" research project aimed at testing the effectiveness and validity of the sensory tests conducted remotely through a comparison with evaluations in a classical laboratory setting. Guidelines were developed to assist panel leaders in setting up and controlling the evaluation sessions in remote testing conditions. Different methods were considered: triangle and tetrad tests, Descriptive Analysis and Temporal Dominance of Sensations tests, all of which involved trained panels, and Check-All-That-Apply and hedonic tests with consumers. Remote sensory testing provided similar results to the lab testing in all the cases, with the exception of the tetrad test run at work. Findings suggest that remote sensory testing, if conducted in strict compliance with specifically developed sensory protocols, is a promising alternative to laboratory tests that can be applied with both trained assessors and consumers even beyond the global pandemic.

Inclusion of Hermetia illucens larvae meal on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) feed: effect on sensory profile according to static and dynamic evaluations.

BACKGROUND: Diet implementation with insect meal has aroused increased attention in aquaculture considering the advantages of this new protein source. The effect of Hermetia illucens meal (HI) inclusion in diets on rainbow trout physical-chemical and sensory properties was evaluated. Three diets were prepared: HI0, HI25, HI50, with 0, 25 and 50% of HI replacing fish meal, respectively. Fillet sensory profiles were described by descriptive analysis and temporal dominance of sensation methods. Cooking loss, Warner-Bratzler shear force, proximate analysis, and fatty acid composition were also determined. RESULTS: Diets significantly affected fillets sensory profile. Descriptive analysis indicated significant changes in perceived intensity of aroma, flavour and texture descriptors as a function of diet composition. Temporal dominance of sensation evaluations provided information on dominance and evolution of sensations perceived in fillets from different diets. The first sensations perceived as dominant were related to texture attributes, followed by flavours. Dominance of fibrousnesses decreased with the increase of HI in the diet. Boiled fish, algae flavours and umami taste clearly dominated the HI0 dynamic profile. The onset of metallic flavour dominance characterised HI25 and HI50. No differences in physical parameters were detected. Principal component analysis highlighted the relationship between sensory attributes and physico-chemical parameters. CONCLUSION: The sensory description of fillets indicated that HI inclusion induces significant differences in the perceived profile. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

An emotional approach to beef evaluation.

The emotions associated with beef consumption, the influence of breeding system information on emotions ("Conventional" - C vs "Only from the Italian Simmental" - OIS label) and their relationship with liking were evaluated by 93 meat consumers. Respondents were asked to evaluate the same samples of Italian Simmental meat provided with the two different labels. Liking scores were obtained using a 9-point scale and the emotions from the EsSense25 list were scored on 5-point scale (1="not at all", 5="extremely"). A positive and significant effect of OIS information was highlighted on liking scores. Moreover, the breeding system information significantly affected 22 out of the 25 emotions. OIS label elicited higher positive and lower negative feelings about the meat than did the C label. Providing the same beef with different breeding information led to different emotions being evoked in consumers, and these differences in emotions were associated with different levels of liking for beef.

Eating quality prediction of beef from Italian Simmental cattle based on experts' steak assessment.

The experiment aimed at defining a grading scheme for Italian Simmental (IS) beef linked to objective measure of eating quality. Four experts developed a meat quality grid based on the assessment of the steak between the 8th and 9th ribs (reference steak). The grid was tested on the reference steak of 29 IS young-bulls. Rib-eye dimension, meat colour, marbling, meat firmness and fat cover highly contributed to overall quality. Two classes of IS beef quality were identified: standard and high. The results were associated with the sensory profile of Longissimus thoracis muscle from the reference steaks performed by a trained panel. The differences in quality highlighted by experts in raw steak accounted for most of the relevant information regarding the sensory properties of cooked beef. The accuracy of predictive model was 96.6%. The developed scheme is a helpful tool for valuing the eating quality of beef.

Influence of familiarity with goat meat on liking and preference for capretto and chevon.

The research aimed at assessing liking and preference for capretto and chevon as a function of consumer familiarity with goat meat. Five meats were produced: traditional milk capretto (MC), heavy summer capretto (HSC), summering (SCh), fall (FCh) and late fall chevon (LFCh). HSC was the most tender meat, having less cooking losses than both MC and redder chevon types. The instrumental profile corresponded with the appearance and texture attributes perceived by panellists. With aging of kids, meat lost its milk aroma (MC) and sweet taste (HSC) and acquired an increasing intensity of goat flavour and livery notes, partially related to feeding regime and fatty acid profile. A niche market preferred chevon over capretto, while the cluster of consumers who were unfamiliar with chevon showed a decrease in pleasantness when tasting chevon, the familiar group reduced their ratings only for meat from the oldest kids.