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Agriculture
Special Issues
Sensory Properties Analysis for Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Product
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Sensory Properties Analysis for Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Product

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 999

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Maria Teresa Frangipane

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest Systems (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Interests: sensory analysis; quality evaluation; antioxidants; foods; extra-virgin olive oil; postharvest; fresh-cut fruits and vegetables; polyphenols; dried fruit (chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sensory characteristics are an essential element in determining the quality of agricultural products, making their analysis fundamental to evaluating the latter. The sensory characteristics of a food product are the first to draw consumer interest and guarantee its future purchase. Sensory analysis has become very important in the food industry due to its increased use of groups of selected tasters (panels) who are able to objectively describe the organoleptic characteristics of a product and evaluate their intensity, both in absolute terms and in comparison with other similar products. A panel's role can also be to anticipate consumers' opinion by expressing hedonic and, therefore, subjective opinions in order to predict a product's acceptance on the market. These panels are used in the development of a new product, to improve one already on the market, verify the effects of a change in production, or control a product’s quality and verify its stability and shelf life.

This Special Issue focuses on assessing the quality of agricultural products using sensory analysis. For this reason, research and review articles on chemical, biological, nutritional, and food technology are welcome and will certainly help readers gain more clarity on the topics covered.

Dr. Maria Teresa Frangipane
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sensory analysis
  • quality
  • organoleptic characteristics
  • panel test
  • consumer preferences
  • product improvement
  • quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA)
  • lexicon for sensory evaluation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2783 KiB  
Article
Non-Destructive Prediction of Apple Moisture Content Using Thermal Diffusivity Phenomics for Quality Assessment
by Jung-Kyu Lee, Moon-Kyung Kang and Dong-Hoon Lee
Agriculture 2025, 15(8), 869; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15080869 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 189
Abstract
With the surge in digital farming, real-time quality management of fresh produce has become essential. For apples (Malus domestica Borkh.), consumer demand extends beyond sweetness, texture, and appearance to internal quality factors such as moisture content. Existing non-destructive methods, however, involve costly [...] Read more.
With the surge in digital farming, real-time quality management of fresh produce has become essential. For apples (Malus domestica Borkh.), consumer demand extends beyond sweetness, texture, and appearance to internal quality factors such as moisture content. Existing non-destructive methods, however, involve costly equipment, complex calibration, and sensitivity to environmental conditions. This study hypothesizes that thermal diffusivity indices derived from surface heating and cooling patterns can accurately predict apple moisture content non-destructively. A total of 823 apples from seven varieties were analyzed using a thermal imaging sensor in a 120-s process comprising 40 s of heating and 80 s of cooling. Key thermal diffusivity indices—minimum, maximum, mean, and max–min values—were extracted and correlated with actual moisture content measured via the drying method. Multiple linear regression and leave-one-out cross-validation confirmed that mean temperature-based models provided the most stable predictions (RCV2 ≥ 0.90 for some varieties). Frame optimization and artificial neural networks further improved prediction accuracy for varieties exhibiting higher variability. The proposed method is cost-effective, requires minimal calibration, and is less affected by surface reflectance, outperforming conventional optical methods (e.g., NIR spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging), especially regarding robustness against surface reflectance variability and calibration complexity. This offers a practical solution for monitoring apple freshness and quality during sorting and distribution processes, with expanded research on sugar content and acidity expected to accelerate commercialization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensory Properties Analysis for Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Product)
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12 pages, 1704 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Sensory and Volatile Profiles Associated with the Antioxidant Activity of Monovarietal Extra Virgin Olive Oil of the Leccio Del Corno Cultivar with Remarkable Resistance to the Bacterium Xylella fastidiosa
by Maria Teresa Frangipane, Lara Costantini, Stefania Garzoli, Nicolò Merendino and Riccardo Massantini
Agriculture 2025, 15(6), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15060619 - 14 Mar 2025
Viewed by 420
Abstract
In recent decades, the production of extra virgin olive oil has doubled, with a high export value. In Italy, the large number of olive varieties, with around 500 registered, allows the production of highly valued monovarietal oils with a significant impact on sensory [...] Read more.
In recent decades, the production of extra virgin olive oil has doubled, with a high export value. In Italy, the large number of olive varieties, with around 500 registered, allows the production of highly valued monovarietal oils with a significant impact on sensory profiles. Due to its excellent adaptation to the cold and its remarkable resistance to the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa (subsp. pauca), the sensory and volatile profiles of the Leccio del Corno monovarietal oil were investigated in relation to quality and antioxidant activity. Our study has revealed that Leccio del Corno oil has high antioxidant activity (TPC: 3.29 mg GAE/g, FRAP: 1.31 mmol Fe2+/g, ABTS•+: 1.27 mmol TE/g). This gives it high nutritional value for human consumption, and increases its ability to preserve itself over time. From a sensory point of view, it presents a specific sensory imprint with pleasant notes of almond (3 ± 0.07), artichoke (2.4 ± 0.06), and, to a slight extent, tomato (1 ± 0.16). Regarding the volatile component, 2-hexenal (E) was the most abundant compound in our research, accounting for 41.0%. The use of the Leccio del Corno variety, with its remarkable resistance to the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, for the production of a monovarietal extra virgin olive oil of excellent quality could, therefore, be a valid alternative for restoring production capacity while increasing olive biodiversity in areas affected by this bacterium. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensory Properties Analysis for Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Product)
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