2.2.2. Visual panel
The consumer acceptance of the product was studied using a
panel. Nine testers were invited to participate in the visual evaluation
of mushrooms. All of them underwent training in which the
different stages of mushroom deterioration were shown. Two
different tests were carried out. The ranking test was carried out in
accordance with the norm ISO 8587:2006 (“Sensory analysis.
Guidelines for the use of quantitative response scales. (ISO
412:2003),”). This test consisted of assigning a number to the
sample under examination from 1 to 10, where 1 indicated that the
mushroom slices were completely white and 10 indicated that
mushrooms were not suitable for consumption (beyond the bestbefore
date). The second test was a paired comparison test carried
out in accordance with the norms ISO 5495:2005 and ISO
5495:2005/Cor 1:2006 (Zotarelli, Porciuncula, & Laurindo, 2012).
This test was performed as bilateral comparison, where the
researcher did not have previous knowledge about which sample
could be better. The aim of this test was to determine if the consumers
would preferably choose one kind of packaged mushrooms.