Rice flavor is a significant factor in determining quality and consumer acceptability as exemplified by
scented rice, which is highly favored and commands a price premium. Sensory descriptive analysis has primarily
been performed to assess rice flavor characteristics, but these studies feature only a limited lexicon for characterizing
specific flavors or the range of flavor types is limited. This study was undertaken to establish a descriptive
lexicon with reference standards for describing the flavor properties of a broad spectrum of rice types and use the
developed lexicon to characterize which sensory attributes are most important in rice flavor quality. A rice flavor
lexicon consisting of 24 descriptive notes was developed and expanded by 8 trained sensory panelists to characterize
the flavor of cooked rice differing in terms of forms, types, and specialty (n = 36). Of these 24 descriptive
terms, 19 were aromatic notes and 5 were fundamental tastes and oral feeling factors. Eighteen aromatic terms
were significantly present in most rice samples whereas some descriptors exhibited unique characteristics of a
specific-rice type. Subsequent multivariate analysis indicated that 18 descriptive terms were required to fully understand
the characteristics of rice flavor in greater details. This lexicon covered a wider range of rice samples than
in the previous studies and will facilitate targeting the characteristic notes important to rice processors as well as
producers.
Keywords: flavor, lexicon, multivariate, rice, sensory