Development of a preliminary sensory lexicon for floral honey

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop a sensory vocabulary to describe floral honey from the south region of Spain (Andalucı́a). Principal component analysis has been used as a basis for excluding attributes that are not being used to differentiate among honeys or to describe the main sensory characteristics of each product. Fifteen descriptors were selected by PCA: four for odour (overall intensity, floral, ripen fruit, green grass and candy); three terms for texture (viscosity, gumminess and granularity); six for flavour (overall intensity, floral, ripen fruit, acid taste, bitter taste and sweet taste) and one attribute for trigeminal sensations (piquancy). The attributes are presented together with reference standards.