Sensory
evaluation included the selected representative properties of crackers.
These properties were evaluated using a 5-pointsmethod.Marks were
given based on the scale from 1 “unacceptable” to 5 “excellent”. Each
mark was described with words, using previously prepared standard
cards (Pajin, 2000; Sikora et al., 2007). In order to obtain the total
product quality, prior to sensory evaluation importance coefficients
(IC) for each sensory property were standardized and fixed by the
panelists (Popov-Raljic & Lalicic-Petronijevic, 2009). The importance
coefficients were balanced that their sum equals to 5.0 (Pajin, 2009).
The obtained marks were multiplied by the following importance
coefficients: IC ¼ 1.0 for appearance (shape, uniformity and surface);
IC ¼ 1.2 for structure, break and firmness; IC ¼ 1.0 for chewiness and
other textural properties; IC ¼ 0.6 for odour; and IC ¼ 1.2 for taste.
Applying the importance coefficients a quantitative expression of the
total product quality is obtained as the ‘weighted’ mean value of the
scores for each evaluated property.
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