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14.1: Appendix A - Terms Used in Evaluating Food Products

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    29459
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    Visual Evaluation:

    Appearance – aspect or contour

    broken frothy rough smooth
    cloudy greasy scum sparkling
    clear lustrous sediment stringy
    crumble muddy shiny translucent
    curdled opaque shriveled dull
    plump shrunken    

    Color – normal for substance, pleasing to the eye

    bright faded normal snowy white
    creamy gray off-color yellow
    discolored greenish pale dull
    golden brown rich    

    Shape – proportionate dimensions

    broken irregular thick even
    oval thin flat round
    uneven      

    Size

    irregular medium uniform large
    small      

    Grain – structural quality – such as crystals in candies and ice creams, size of pores in cake and bread, thickness of cell walls in breads or cakes

    amorphous fine granular coarse
    foamy heavy crystalline grainy
    porous      

    Flavor Characteristics:

    Odor – volatile substances affecting sense of smell

    acid burnt fragrant weak
    acrid delicate strong  

    Taste – sensations produced by substances listed

    bitter salty sweet sour

    Flavor – quality which affects the relish, zest or savor. Combination of taste and odor

    astringent delicate raw starch
    bland flat rich stimulating
    blended mellow scorched strong
    brisk pungent stale tasteless
    burned      

    Mouthfeel and Texture Characteristics:

    Consistency – degree of firmness, density, viscosity, fluidity, plasticity, resistant to movement

    brittle frothy runny soggy
    crisp full-bodied syrupy hard
    crumbly gummy solid mealy
    curdled liquid stiff thin
    firm rubbery soft  

    Lightness – well leavened, not dense; having low specific gravity

    fluffy light in weight for size porous  

    Moistness – degree of moisture. In fruits and meats called juiciness

    dry moist water  

    Tenderness – ease with which can be cut, broken, pulled apart or masticated

    tender tough    

    Texture – feel of substance between fingers or in the mouth; differences caused by grain, tenderness, moisture content, etc.

    brittle granular oily smooth
    chewy limp pasty soggy
    fibrous lumpy rubbery sugary
    firm mealy slimy stringy
    grainy mushy    

    14.1: Appendix A - Terms Used in Evaluating Food Products is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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