Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 October 2012
Introduction. The aim of this work was to develop a list ofsuitable sensory attributes and to perform sensory quality assessment of an unprocessedpeach juice and a peach juice clarified by enzymatic treatment followed by membraneprocesses, using the attributes chosen by the trained panel. Materials andmethods. A panel of assessors was selected and trained following the quantitativedescriptive analysis methodology. A descriptive terminology with eight descriptors wassuccessfully developed. Results and discussion. The sensory analysis showedthat the juices were effectively clarified. Although the clarification by microfiltrationin a bench-scale unit did not change juice taste attributes, the characteristic color andaroma of peach juice were also removed. The scale-up of the membrane clarification processaffected all the sensory characteristics of the clarified juice, even taste. Theunpleasant cooked fruit taste and aroma could be reduced by juice clarification byenzymatic and membrane processes. The kind of membrane, membrane geometry andtransmembrane pressure used in the membrane clarification did not significantly affect thejuice sensory characteristics.