Use of slope analysis to characterize consumer preference for virgin olive oil

Sensory characteristics interact to drive overall liking of a food product. Analytically, it is possible to estimate the importance of a sensory characteristic by the linear slope (k), relating overall liking to sensory liking characteristics. This approach was applied to extra virgin olive oil, constructing slopes for appearance, odour and taste/flavour. The results show that consumers responded differently. On average the relative importance of the sensory Liking characteristics as a driver of overall liking for extra virgin olive oil was taste/flavour > odour > appearance, even if there were consumers who paid equal attention to all the sensory characteristics.