Temporal dominance of sensations and sensory profiling: A comparative study

Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) is a recent descriptive sensory method consisting in assessing repeatedly, until the sensations end, which sensation is dominant and in scoring its intensity. Compared to time–intensity, this method considers the multidimensionality of the perceptual space over time. The objectives of this study were first to compare description of gels containing different levels of odorants (peach and mint), citric acid, cooling agent and xanthan gum obtained with TDS and with a conventional descriptive method and then to explore the impact of mint and peach odorant on long lasting perception. TDS provided reliable information close to standard sensory profiling. In addition, TDS provided information on the dynamic of perception after product consumption that was not available using a conventional profiling method and that may be critical for the understanding of complex perceptions such as refreshing.